I fell in love with The Nickel Boys and had such high hopes for Harlem Shuffle. However, there were just too many characters to keep track of. They prevented me from fully following the narrative and comprehending what was happening and ultimately just served as a distraction. The plot was disjointed and I just found myself not fully engaged. The writing was still strong and beautiful.

Once again Colson Whitehead delivers on a highly readable tale exhibiting the very fortitude and strength of Black culture. Highly recommend.

Ray is a regular guy furniture salesman who happens to get involved in a little sideways business selling lightly stolen goods and involving himself in the occasional dead body and or hotel vault heist. This is the story of a regular guy who slowly gets himself involved in crime but still manages to be an upstanding fellow. Set in Harlem in the 60's, Whitehead makes this story as much about Ray as about the feeling of striving to be better in Harlem.

I think there were high expectations going into this book written by back to back Pulitzer prize winning author Colson Whitehead. I enjoyed the historical contest of the story which is set in 1960's Harlem. Ray Carney is trying to move up in life and he works hard trying make his furniture store a success. However, this novel shows how hard it is to move up on hard work alone. There are people that need to be paid off and deals that need to be made just to get by. This is a novel in three parts and each part takes place in a different time period. Colson is master story teller and even though the pace is slow the story is immersive and pulls you in. Thank you #NetGalley for my ARC.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. In exchange, here is my honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Colson Whitehead. His other two more recent and popular books are on my TBR list, but I haven't managed to get to them yet, which is certainly my fault.

In this novel, Whitehead writes with a rhythm that flows naturally and almost musically, and some of the wordplay is absolutely sublime. It is, in itself, a type of shuffle, bringing you back and forth between the two storylines that are unfolding simultaneously: Ray Carney's world, and what is happening in the world around Ray Carney.

The story begins slow, introducing you to Ray, the minutiae of his life, the day to day struggles of a Black man trying to run a business in Harlem. You meet other characters, some of which are there for a long time, and others who are only a brief flicker and then gone, giving you a hint of how his life is changing, developing into the dual sides of himself that you see slowly merging and coming together into one version of Ray Carney that he probably wouldn't want to admit exists.

I think it's really interesting to see how Ray's life is shaped by events in society that (unfortunately) still mirror what is happening today. The death of James Powell is noted, as are the Harlem Riots of 1964, a topic I wasn't well versed in. Fortunately, the book doesn't go out of its way to explain what happens either. You see things unfold as Ray sees them unfold, and you get what mentions of them Ray is willing to give you. The man is busy and has a lot of other things preying on his mind - his cousin, inconvenient visitors, and the running of his business. Plus, he also has to balance being a family man, keeping that happy facade afloat.

It's a crime caper without the breakneck speed of a crime caper. Everything unfolding with the slow heat of a lazy summer day. I've never read a crime story quite of this caliber before, and I found that I enjoyed it. I still have so many thoughts about this book, my brain noting one thing and another - the parallels between him and his father, the value of revenge, and of course, my favorite character - Pepper. (He's just fantastic, and if Whitehead ever wrote a separate book about him, I'd be the first in line to read it.)

Colson Whitehead has a beautiful writing style and what especially appeals to me is that he doesn't have just one genre. Harlem Shuffle transports you to 1960s Harlem. Ray Carney is an educated black man running a furniture store by day and a few illicit activities by night. He is a devoted family man despite his own difficult childhood and unsupportive in laws. This story is told like a play in three acts with each act set in a new time period with a new challenge but with repeating characters. You can't help but root for Ray as he deals with mobsters, crooked police, fences, and unreliable relatives. The story is set against the backdrop of black in America, specifically Harlem, including riots over the police shooting of an unarmed black man. As always, Colson Whitehead draws you into his books and attaches you to his characters and doesn't let you go until the end. I highly recommend this novel whether you have read anything by this author or not. In fact, if his last few books didn't sound appealing to you, try this one.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

People in 1960s Harlem know Ray Carney as a respected furniture store owner, husband, and father. Fewer people know he comes from a family of crooks, and thanks to his cousin Freddie, he's got one foot in the family business himself. After Freddie pulls Ray into a hotel heist gone wrong, it becomes harder and harder to balance his two lives.

Colson Whitehead has an incredible gift of bringing historical periods to life, and incredibly different ones at that. Harlem is its own character in the book, and the way Whitehead weaves in so much history and nuance is wonderful to read. The web of characters in Harlem Shuffle is also fantastic. The part that left me wanting more was the thriller/mystery plot. A lot happened off the page, and I think more action would have brought the scene-setting and quirky characters together a little more clearly. But still really enjoyed this!

Great storytelling and a strong sense of place - Whitehead clearly draws you into the underbelly of mid-20th century Harlem and I loved every minute of it. Will be a great pick to help diversify my readers advisory recs for our library patrons. Thanks for the ARC!

Set in Harlem from 1959 to 1964 this is the story of Ray Carney. Ray is a striver. He is trying to make it as an upstanding, respectable small business man selling new and gently used furniture at his shop on 125th Street. But Ray's business and indeed his life have a back door that opens onto the less respectable side of life in Harlem. Sometimes Ray steps out of that door and sometimes things come through it but he still strives to keep up his respectability. This is the very engaging story of Ray's balancing act between these two worlds. It is also a beautiful portrayal of Harlem during those crucial years.
This is an excellent book and an enjoyable read.
(This review is of an ARC)

Raymond Carney loves his wife and children and his cousin Freddy, and because he does and he's a black man living in Harlem in the 50's and 60's, it's not easy to make an honest living. But he does his best in this powerful new story from a masterful writer who only gets better with each book he writes. Yes, this is a heist story that goes wrong, but it's also an exploration of what a person will do for their family, however they define family. While some things change over the years, the more things change, the more they stay the same as events in this story show in a way that comes across as realistic, without being preachy. This is probably the best book I've read so far this year and I highly recommend it.

💎 Colson Whitehead’s newest novel, Harlem Shuffle veers in a completely different direction than his past two Pulitzer Prize-winning novels. It’s a heist novel set in a meticulously described civil rights-era Harlem.

💎Ray Carney, as far as anyone knows, is an upstanding furniture store owner. When his cousin Freddie, who is the opposite of upstanding, brings Ray the random piece of jewelry here and there, Ray knows just where to go with it But that’s OK, right? It seems to be until Freddie volunteers Ray to be the fence for a big heist at the Hotel Theresa, the “Waldorf of Harlem.” Now Ray has dirty cops, gangsters and others of ill-repute visiting his store and they are NOT there to check out the latest sofa or dinette set.

💎Mr. Whitehead has again brought vividly to life bits of Black history from the Freedom Riders to the Harlem Race Riot of 1964, which, sadly, bears quite a resemblance to life today. With a lot of characters and names such as Miami Joe, Chink Montague, and Pepper, I found it difficult at times to keep track of who was who, and as the story delved into these characters’ backgrounds, it added to my confusion. Ray Carney is a likable enough protagonist who strives to do right by his family , and in doing so demonstrates just how easy it is to do the wrong thing for the right reason. Although I did find the story entertaining, reading it in two days, it wasn’t exactly what I was anticipating or hoping. Maybe my expectations were just too high.

💎Thank you to @netgalley and @doubledaybooks for my uncorrected ebook in exchange for my honest review. If you’d like to pick up your own copy, it is available for pre-order, and will be released 9/14/21.

Furniture store owner Carney is trying to live the straight life in the shadow of his crook father, but the world of crime keeps pulling him in.

Colson Whitehead is a fabulous writer no matter what he's writing. This book is a self-described "caper" book set in the Harlem of the 1960s. Atmospherically beautiful and full of character. The main character, Ray, is striving - to be better, to be successful, and the get his family to Riverside Drive. To get there, he feels the need to do a few shady things in addition to his furniture business. It took me a short time to get into the story (I acknowledge that the power of the last two books makes a switch to a crime book take a minute) but once I did it was a quick read. I liked Ray, his wife, and his two employees, Marie and Rusty, but especially liked Pepper. Highly recommend.

The book sets up three side-by-side vignettes in Ray Carney's life in Harlem in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the first, Carney's just struggling to get on his feet with his business, dreaming of a better life for him and his family. He gets involved in offloading the take from a heist his no-good cousin Freddie's involved in, and dives deeper into a life of crime. In the second and third stories/sections, this narrative progresses as Carney takes more conscious actions diving into this underworld that moves within Harlem. Whitehead moves us beyond understandings of crime as good or bad, as we consider Carney's involvement in various schemes. In one scene, he's driving along with a cop, collecting his cut from businesses around Carney's block, and Carney's shocked to realize how many of the businesses that surround him have a more devious underworld side. We're left with the feeling that Carney's just doing what he needs to support his family, but complex questions of ethics arise along the way, driving readers to question what they know and believe.

I appreciated the way that this book shows us how Harlem and questions of race relations are evolving into the 1960s. We see the emergence of civil rights activism (e.g. lunch counter sit-ins) and riots after the police kill a black kid in the city, and the impact of these actions on local businesses like Carney's furniture. We watch the city evolve as big powerplayers like the VanWyck family builds highrises, stacking money up high, changing neighborhoods like those Carney has visited along the way.

This book gave me all the feels - good and bad. It was delightful and exhausting and lovely and frustrating, and left me unsure which way was up. It moved slowly, but Whitehead used this time to build narratives of multiple sides of Harlem, of race and power, and of complex families. In some ways, this reminded me of James McBride's Deacon King Kong -- in its pacing, in its complex racial relations, its NYC setting, and its navigation of crime and ethics.

The premise of Whitehead’s new book was so intriguing, and I was fiendishly excited to dive in. I loved so much of his writing thinking back to 1960s Harlem, though there were many passages in the book that were tough to work through. It’s possible that the storyline just wasn’t for me, but I wish I did love it more. I did find Carney’s perspective as only a “slightly bent” man, Pepper, & Freddie interesting—I would love to see an adaptation of this and to hear/see more about them.

As a favorite author, and a living legend anything by Colson Whitehead is going to be on my must-read list. And I am glad I read this but I am a bit disappointed. As a whole, the work is a lovely read, a time capsule of time and place- but the plot itself, as a crime drama, starring a hapless but well-intentioned Ray Carney, was mediocre. The writing certainly carries this book, but there was a lack of tension that just did not call me. A worthwhile read, but if you are looking for a drama/crime book, check out Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins books. Classics.

Colson Whitehead lives up to his other books with this one that made me think. This book settled for me that Colson Whitehead is a modern classic author whose books should be recommended for high school or college level students, particularly those with an interest in race relations.

When it's a novel by Colson Whitehead, you have to take your time. This is so jam-packed with delightful details of a time and a Harlem not many knew, with a timeless heist plot. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

From Pulitzer Prize winning author, Colson Whitehead, a novel set in 1960’s Harlem. Ray Carney strives for more than the lawless life of his father and becomes the successful owner of a furniture store but, still, he leads a double life also fencing stolen items. His cousin gets him involved in a high stakes hotel robbery with disastrous results, and then again in a caper dealing with NYC’s wealthiest first families. Great read!

Of course I had high expectations of this book that follows a Black furniture store owner in Harlem in the 1960's caught between doing the right thing and getting involved in organized crime because of the author. I find when I have high expectations, I'm never quite satisfied and that was the case with this book. I loved this book as a work of historical fiction. The crime elements didn't work for me as much but I still enjoyed reading the book.