This is Colson Whitehead's first sequel, and it is a pleasure to report that it is even better than Harlem Shuffle. The action takes place ten years after the first novel, so the setting is the Harlem of the 1970s. Furniture salesman/fence Ray Carney has gone straight since the previous events. But his teenage daughter's fervent desire for tickets to a sold-out Jackson 5 concert prompted Carney to look outside of his usual sources, leading him to his old corrupt police contact Detective Munson. Munson says he can get the tickets: but the price is a night of criminal adventures with Carney as his partner and wheelman. Things quickly spiral out of control, leading to armed robbery, homicide, and general mayhem.

Two years later, Carney offered his furniture store as a setting for a Blaxploitation film directed by Zippo, who Carney has known since his childhood. His criminal confederate Pepper has had trouble landing a regular gig, so he agrees to work security. When the film's star goes missing it becomes Pepper's mission to find her, which leads him on a winding trail through stand-up comedians, celebrity drug dealers, and good old-fashioned Harlem mobsters.

Three years later: it's 1976, and the whole country is preparing for Bicentennial celebrations (even Harlem, despite the mixed messages sent by the freedom theme). When a fire severely injures one of his tenants Carney asks Pepper to look into it, inadvertently setting off a deadly chain of events. Ironically one big result is the fire-bombing of Carney's store, which is followed by a chain of deadly and catastrophic events, resulting in the death of a prominent Harlem politician and arson that destroys a Harlem landmark.

This novel is full of telling period details, and the cast of characters is drawn in ever-richer detail. Pepper gets the spotlight, but Carney and his wife Elizabeth are also given an expanded view. There is absolutely room for yet another sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Readers Copy.

Colson Whitehead’s sequel to Harlem Shuffle occasionally falls prey to a common “2nd novel” issue. There are many references to events in the first novel, likely not to mean much to first-time readers. Also, the Ray Carney we first met in HS was completely new, the language in that novel rich and surprising, and the “capers’ really engaging. Crook Manifesto continues in this vein, though perhaps with less enthusiasm on the reader’s part, given that we are already familiar with both the characters and milieu. That notwithstanding, Whitehead writes beautifully and with a seeming effortlessness in the prose. Recommended.

As good as I expect from Whitehead, he does a great job meeting the expectations he's set for fans. If you've like his previous work, this is more of the same great writing.

⭐️: 4/5

Set in 1970s Harlem, Crook Manifesto picks up several years after Harlem Shuffle left off, as we get three new stories featuring Ray Carney, the furniture salesman who sometimes moonlights as a reluctant crook, and Pepper, Carney’s violent sometimes-partner in crime.

I’m so glad I read this back to back with Harlem Shuffle, the first in the Ray Carney series. There were so many characters and I just know I would have forgotten their significance if I had let too much time go by. That being said, there were still a bunch of characters that I had trouble keeping track of had still had to use context clues to determine their significance 😂 I really liked how this book, like the first book, consisted of three stories following Carney (and this time, also Pepper in a main character role), because although it did make for an ever so slightly disjointed reading experience, it was a good way to tell more concise stories which definitely made it easier to keep the reader’s interest. Both Crook Manifesto and Harlem Shuffle were advertised as “hilarious,” but I’d probably classify them both as more “ironically humorous,” this one more than the previous book. I found it a lot easier to immerse myself in the stories in Crook Manifesto, which may be attributed to the fact that the main characters and relationships have all already been introduced, so we were able to jump right into the stories aspect instead of any introductory world building. The backgrounds that Whitehead has created for each of his characters are truly such a feat of detail oriented imagination, and made them feel so much more real while reading. Much like Harlem Shuffle, all of the stories have a lot of little side stories and asides that sometimes feel like they take away from the momentum of the main story itself, but sometimes they also add intrigue, so I don’t want to classify that as a positive or negative, more just a point worth mentioning. I’m glad that there’s going to be another book in the Ray Carney Harlem universe, because I’m not ready to say goodbye to these characters!

Thank you to @netgalley and @doubledaybooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2)
by Colson Whitehead (Goodreads Author)
8014291
Mary Juno's review Jul 17, 2023 · edit
it was amazing
bookshelves: historical-fiction

Crook Manifesto is the second of a trilogy which follows Harlem Shuffle. It continues the story of Ray Carney, furniture store owner and fence in early seventies Harlem. Here Carney has tried to put his criminal past behind him but it catches up when he turns to the dark side to get Jackson Five tickets for his daughter. Soon Carney is back in the game and the controlling metaphor of this book is not shuffle but churn. And does the city churn in political and police corruption that makes the rich richer and the poor not only poorer but their neighborhood in flames. Carney's crook manifesto is to learn how to survive in a city that wants to rob him of his livelihood as well as the well-being of his family. He gets himself into violent situations beyond his control or imagination, by trying to get to the root of the darkness that he encounters on the streets. Yes his schemes enrich him, but at heart he is also trying to see if he can fix things. The main character however is New York and Harlem as the curtain is pulled back on its violence against the innocent and not so innocent. There are three crime stories in this novel, each one a page turner, but really this is important historical commentary at work and Colson's craft is much more evident here I thought than in Harlem Shuffle. I eagerly await the third book in this series. Thank you to Net Galley for providing me an ARC of this edition.

I'm so happy we get to continue to follow Ray Carney's story. Crook Manifesto takes us from the 60s of Harlem Shuffle to the 1970s, a whole new era for NYC. There are crooked cops and likeable criminals (and some not-so-likeable), politicians and the Bicentennial. But now the Blaxploitation movies are all the rage and Hollywood comes knocking for Carney. Well, for his shop, but still.

This is another romp through the not-quite-legal and the very-illegal goings on at Carney's furniture store. The cast of characters is colorful and bold. There are many different plot points, so it never gets bogged down. The writing is so vivid, it almost feels like you're there.

Mr. Whitehead has done it again!

My thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this highly successful return to the mid-century world of Harlem Shuffle, there are three vignettes/novellas from 1971, 1973, and bicentennial 1976 linked by the characters of furniture salesman/small time fence, Ray Carney, and Pepper, a support crook of all trades from the previous novel.

In the first, Carney makes a Faustian bargain to get Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter. In the second, Pepper is acting as security on a film shoot and is asked to track down the leading lady after she goes missing. In the third, Carney asks Pepper to find out about an arson in which a child of one of his tenants is nearly killed. In all three stories, the unintended consequences of the initial, straightforward task, are terrifying, involving murder, baseball bats, and fires.

The author immerses us in the Harlem of the 70’s which Carney characterizes with the word “churn.” Everything is changing - the people, the buildings, the vibe, the politics, the power structure. There is the continued pleasure of Carney’s furniture with its evocative nomenclature: the Sterling Dreamer, Gossamer by Egon, and his unlikely passion for it. The glorious fashions are sketched in for us, from Black Panther chic to leopard print swagger.

Carney is our guide to this world. He’s the son of a full-time crook and his kids are the product of a solidly middle class upbringing. Carney still straddles both generations and is able to slip between their milieus, though you can sense time carrying him in one direction and ease pulling him in the other.

Carney and Pepper lead a teeming cast of colorful Harlemites (honestly, I tried to come up with another adjective as this is such a double-edged cliche but couldn’t find anything better in my limited vocabulary): the successful businessmen and politicians of the Dumas Club, the gangsters who run the neighborhood and collect their security payments from the local businesses and their multiple minions, the white cops for whom the end game is to secure as much money as possible even as a corruption investigation looms. All of these men (for it is mostly men) are trying to keep a foothold while the neighborhood churns.

The author keeps up the bouncy tone laced with comedy and sliced with darkness of the first novel. The language is exuberant, original, and vivid. The stories defy being categorized into genres - crime, thriller, mystery - though mixes the tropes and syntax of them with the more classical structure of a quest.

By the close, Carney can see his future even as his past still casts a shadow. It’s a fitting close to a bravura duo of novels and leaves a possibility of more stories to come - highly recommended.

Thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

I didn't love Harlem Shuffle so I should have passed on reading this sequel. Crook Manifesto continues to follow Ray Carney as he makes mostly poor choices. As in the first book, I liked the elements that showed Harlem in the 1970's but I didn't like the crime elements of the book. If you loved the first book, then you will also love this one.

He's back!!! Ray Carney the beloved character from Harlem Shuffle survives another decade and lands in a NYC filled with crime, bankruptcy , and The Black Liberation Army and of course crooked cops. Ray is done with crime but his wife asks him for Jackson 5 tickets and there are none to be had (sound familiar!!) Ray goes through the list of people who may be able to secure tickets but there are none to be had. He decides to go to the person who always gets what he wants and that person happens to be working for the NYPD.

Whitehead once agains captures the essesnce of NYC/Harlem whether it's the 60's or the 70's. You feel the city come alive off the pages and the struggles that come across it's citizens fully developed and realized. I really enjoyed the characters that were reintroduced from Harlem Shuffle and really look forward to the last part of this incredible trilogy. NYC in the 80's is going to be one interesting book but if anybody can do it and do it well, it's Colson Whitehead. This is also a great book for a hot steamy summer read to beat the heat. Great book club pic too. So much to discuss on race, class, police et.

Thank you to #doubleday and #netgalley for the ARC.

Published by Doubleday on July 18, 2023

Crook Manifesto is a sequel to Harlem Shuffle. The combined novels tell the story of Ray Carney, but in doing so they tell the story of Harlem. While Crook Manifesto takes the form of three solid crime stories — they often read like literary thrillers — the two books combine to trace changes in culture, race relations, and urban politics in the latter half of the twentieth century. It is also a story of resilience and fortitude, showcased in one character but present in an entire community, an entire race.

Carney’s father was killed by the police while committing a robbery. Carney both followed in his father’s footsteps by turning to crime when he needed cash and surpassed his father by getting a business degree and opening his own furniture store. The business allowed him to prosper, but during desperate times he paid the bills by developing a side business as a fence. That criminal career drives the plot in Harlem Shuffle.

By the end of Harlem Shuffle and at the beginning of Crook Manifesto, Carney thinks he has gone straight. He misses the excitement or glamor of fencing stolen property, but he has a family to raise and doesn’t miss the risk of imprisonment. Unfortunately, a return to crime is inevitable. “Crooked stays crooked.”

The first of three criminal episodes involves a bent cop named Munson. Like all New York cops, Munson has been shaking down criminals and legitimate businesses (including Carney’s). The police are out of sorts because the Black Liberation Army is committing crimes to raise cash and may have killed a cop. Munson tries to frame the BLA when he commits a serious theft from an underworld boss. The scheme goes sideways when Munson tries to screw his partner out of the partner’s share. He wants Carney to fence some hot jewelry because Carney’s no longer in the business and will not be an immediate suspect. Carney becomes Munson’s de facto partner in a criminal escapade that puts them both at risk. Carney doubts that Munson will allow him to live when the day comes to an end.

The second part takes its theme from the blaxploitation movies that were popular in the 1970s. A Harlem filmmaker wants to make a movie featuring a black actress who has had small roles in Hollywood movies. She’ll be a “black lady secret agent in the cracker-killing business.” The filmmaker is shooting a scene in Carney’s store and has hired Carney’s friend Pepper to provide security. When the actress disappears, Pepper goes on a Harlem adventure to find her, eventually tangling with one of the underworld bosses.

The novel’s last act takes place at the intersection of arson and political corruption. The media blame black activists for fires in Harlem that are actually caused by poor wiring or arson-for-profit schemes. A Harlem politician is behind many of the schemes. Tenements burn down, the owners cash in on insurance, the city acquires the deeds, the property gets sold for redevelopment, and various politicians and bureaucrats get a slice of the profits. When a boy is hospitalized in one of the fires, Carney decides to find out who is responsible. He hires Pepper to help him investigate. Both men pay a price for noticing entrenched corruption.

All three stories are classic crime dramas, complete with fistfights, death threats, and an occasional chase scene. Without slowing the action, Whitehead tells a bigger story about race and changing times in Harlem. It is a story of violent cops, political corruption, entrenched racism, and accepted sexism (particularly concerning black women). Yet Whitehead doesn’t beat the reader over the head with polemic. Carney is something of an everyman (or more specifically, an every black man) who faces the same family and business issues as everyone else who strives for success, but takes it as a given, hardly worth noticing, that he must overcome additional barriers because of his race.

Carney uses music (a Jackson 5 concert), movies (Superfly), black standup comedians (edgier than Bill Cosby), and headlines (Vietnam, white fear of a race war) to take the reader back in time. They also set the scene for Carney’s journey. He realizes that kids hear songs of heartbreak at a young age to prepare them for the reality of adult life. “You sing the sad songs first, then you act them out.” He understands that black entertainers are looking for a way out of lives that offer fewer opportunities than white people expect. Expressions that are popular in the 1970s add to the atmosphere. Pepper likes the phrase “getting over” as an expression of black people finding “a way to outwit white people’s rules.”

Pepper has lived a rougher life than Carney, although Carney and his wife have reserved a room for “Uncle Pepper” in their home. Pepper grew up wondering what it would be like to live in a home like Carney’s. He values the acceptance he feels in Carney’s home, but he never feels entirely comfortable. His is a life of the street, albeit a life that is governed by a moral code. Pepper is a powerful character and an interesting contrast to Carney.

The book highlights changes in society that are reflected in Harlem. The city is burning, “not because of sick men with matches and cans of gas but because the city itself was sick, waiting for fire, begging for it.” Thanks to arson, urban renewal is gentrifying the neighborhoods. Bars that cater to criminals are harder to find. “They are dying off, the old crooks and hustlers and flimflam artists, or upstate after an ill-advised scheme to cover medical bills or six months’ back rent or new teeth.” The city is breaking down. Blue collar jobs are gone and white collar jobs are reserved for white skin. “The blacks and Puerto Ricans are squeezed into smaller and smaller ghettos that were once thriving neighborhoods.”

Still, by the third story, Carney has made a comparatively good life for himself. He belongs to a Harlem social club and associates with high rollers, although he no longer remembers why he wanted to keep their company. When he faces another catastrophe, he takes it is stride because catastrophe is all he can expect from life. He might still find a way to get over.

Resilience is the book’s overriding theme. Black men came to New York from Alabama because in Harlem, they could be men. Black musicians are “beat down, their skulls full of dead-end thoughts,” but “they keep playing.” Carney won’t stop striving until he’s dead. “The city tried to break him. It didn’t work. He was genuine Manhattan schist and that don’t break easy.” The story is inspirational in its message that endurance is a way to win a battle, that progress may be incremental but it can never be stopped.

RECOMMENDED

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead #fortyninthbookof2023 #arc

CW: burglary, death/murder, arson, assault/violence

This book is the follow up to 2021’s Harlem Shuffle. It has the same structure as the first novel, three sections each detailing a specific foray into the underbelly of Harlem, this time in the 70s. Ray has supposedly gotten out of the illicit business of the first book, but he’s quickly pulled back in as this novel picks up steam. I enjoyed all three parts, but my favorite details involve Pepper, the main character’s friend/business associate. Whitehead has a way of storytelling that really appeals to me, and while I’ve read several of his latest, I haven’t read his early works. I plan to rectify that. I enjoyed this book as much as the first, and I think there is a third planned to complete the trilogy. I’m looking forward to seeing how Ray’s story wraps up.

Thank you to @netgalley and @doubledaybooks for the advance copy. (Pub date 7/18/23)

This sequel to "Harlem Shuffle" was very enjoyable. I was delighted to return to these characters and their world. I enjoyed it as much as the original. I like these books from Whitehead but am really looking forward to where he goes next.

Two time Pulitzer Prize winning author continues what he began in Harlem Shuffle. I understand there will also be a third novel, but I would not call this a sequel. Crook Manifesto reprises some of the same characters, mainly Ray Carney and Pepper, in what reads like three novellas set in Harlem in 1971, 1973, and 1976. The first with Carney being drawn into a dirty cops exploits when he reaches out for Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter, then the second centers around Pepper and the production of a Blaxploitation film with all its craziness, and the final with both Carney and Pepper drawn into arson for profit and crooked politicians.

Whitehead has a lot of fun, albeit dark, with these characters and storylines. Violent and darkly funny, well written and great character development. Fun fact, my first job out of university was for a small theater chain that ran a downtown twin with Blaxploitation films in one theater and xxx porn films in the other. Reading the second story was all the better for having experienced that.

I have to say The Nickel Boys and Sag Harbor are still my favorites.

I’m sure Colson Whitehead’s latest novel, “Crook Manifesto,” is going to be a bestseller. But I found it disappointing. I loved his other books, including the prequel “Harlem Shuffle.” At the heart, we have Ray Carney, the good bad guy, who just can’t seem to steer clear of criminal activity. And Whitehead’s wonderful language and story-telling skills are evident. He's an amazing writer who provides thought-provoking stories. There is amazing variety in his work and his imagination. The book had its moments of pathos, charm, and amusement but, for some reason, this time it just didn’t click for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for an advanced readers copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Loved this addition to the series. Colson Whitehead is an incredible author, and our patrons love him. Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for allowing me to read this ARC.

Crook Manifesto is Colson Whitehead's follow-up to Harlem Shuffle, and thus the second in a planned three book series, The Harlem Triology. This book will be released July 18th, so we want to thank both @doubleday and @netgalley for the review copies of this book! We find the Ray Carney, our semi-crooked protagonist, a couple years along after Harlem Shuffle. He has been acting like a regular ole furniture salesman over the past few years, but of course, the action of this book is his second fall from grace back into the Harlem and larger New York City underworld. And boy does it start off with a BANG! In doing just "one more" job, he gets pulled back into a world that has shifted over time, now with more Black Panther, urban renewal and Hollywood elements to thicken the plot. The only complaints here are that it both does re-hashing from Harlem Shuffle AND it also can't quite stand on its own without it; while you certainly can read this book without reading Harlem Shuffle, you don't really want to do that. However, Whitehead is too good of a storyteller for that to be a true hangup.

“A man has a hierarchy of crime, of what is morally acceptable and what is not, a crook manifesto, and those who subscribe to lesser codes are cockroaches. Are nothing.”

I love Colson Whitehead’s writing style so it was a no brainer for me to request the arc of Crook Manifesfo when I saw it on NetGalley! I did not realize this was the second book in a trilogy so, while I read a spoiler filled review of Harlem Shuffle, I did feel like I was missing a bit of the backstory in book 2.

With that being said, I don’t think it mattered much. The story being told in Crook Manifesto is not necessarily about the plot, but instead a witty commentary on corruption and crime in Harlem during the 1970s. I thought it was weird that this was going to be a book about trying to get Carney’s daughter Jackson 5 tickets and that’s probably because it really wasn’t.

This book is told in 3 parts and each section takes place in a different year. I found the first section a bit slow but it really takes off after that! I also really love a well structured book with obvious movement and that is definitely what this book is! This book is funny and full of social commentary. A well written book (and fantastically narrated - thank you to libro.fm for the advance listening copy)!

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I loved this - Whitehead's writing remains in a class of it own. I enjoyed Harlem Shuffle, and the opportunity to return to these characters' lives proved a real treat. Gorgeous prose, superb character development, engaging plotting - Whitehead has done it again. The structure of the novel - three snapshots/incidents in 1970s New York - helps this deviate from standard sequel fare. Highly recommended.

A stunning achievement. Colson Whitehead once again demonstrates why he has twice been honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This will surely be his third. It is that good.

We return to the story of Whitehead's protagonist Ray Carney, a furniture store owner, and small time crook, at three different points in his later life during the seedy 70s. Try as he might, Carney cannot break away from the dark side of life. He becomes increasingly entangled with folks he would just prefer ro avoid. Yet, through it all - from the violent and utterly corrupt cops, to the dangerous and equally violent mobsters and hit men, Carney survives and indeed thrives.

Asi I said earlier, Crook Manifesto is a stunning accomplishmen. Harrowing and funny -often within the same paragraph. It is well worth reading.

Did you meet Ray Carney in Harlem Shuffle? If not, please start there because Crook Manifesto will be much more enjoyable. Many of the characters carry over and the storyline connects. Harlem Shuffle ends with Carney deciding to go straight. Four years later in Crook Manifesto he has to decide if he can maintain that while trying to get Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter. He can’t. Told in three novellas, the inside look at Harlem continues with Colson Whitehead’s genius fully on display in the plot, character development, and atmospheric style. Police corruption, Blaxploitation, and political corruption in urban blight are the three dominant themes. This series just gets stronger. How soon can I get book three?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.