Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked...'
To his customers and neighbors on 125th street,Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced furniture,making a life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child,and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks,it's still home.Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks,and that his faade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger and bigger all the time.
See,cash is tight,especially with all those instalment plan sofas,so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace at the furniture store,Ray doesn't see the need to ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweller downtown who also doesn't ask questions. Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa - the'Waldorf of Harlem'- and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't go as planned; they rarely do,after all. Now Ray has to cater to a new clientele,one made up of shady cops on the take,vicious minions of the local crime lord,and numerous other Harlem lowlifes.Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life,he starts to see the truth about who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed,save his cousin,and grab his share of the big score,all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs
Harlem Shuffleis driven by an ingeniously intricate plot that plays out in a beautifully recreated Harlem of the early 1960s. It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel,a hilarious morality play,a social novel about race and power,and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.
Publisher: Little,Brown Book GroupISBN: 9780708899472Number of pages: 336Weight: 270 gDimensions: 196 x 124 x 26 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'A sizzling heist novel set in civil rights-era Harlem...It's a superlative story,but the most impressive achievement is Whitehead's loving depiction of a Harlem 60 years gone,which lands as detailed and vivid as Joyce's Dublin. Don't be surprised if this one wins Whitehead another major award.'-Publishers Weekly
'Whitehead adds another genre to an ever-diversifying portfolio with his first crime novel,and it's a corker... Whitehead delivers a portrait of Harlem in the early'60s,culminating with the Harlem Riot of 1964,that is brushed with lovingly etched detail and features a wonderful panoply of characters who spring to full-bodied life,blending joy,humor,and tragedy. A triumph on every level.'-Booklist
Colson Whitehead
One of America's most exciting and original novelists and essayists,multi-award winning author Colson Whitehead is best-known for his 2016,Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece The Underground Railroad. His other works include John Henry Days,Apex Hides the Hurt,Zone One and non-fiction works The Colossus of New York and The Noble Hustle: Poker,Beef Jerky & Death. His latest novel,The Nickel Boys, will be published in July 2019.
Visit the Colson Whitehead author page
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