Book of the Month: Harlem Shuffle

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is a work of literary fiction that was published Aug. 23 by Doubleday, a company whose parent organization is Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, which is owned by Random House. Colson Whitehead is an American novelist and activist is most commonly known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels: The Underground Railroad (2016) and The Nickel Boys (2019).

Harlem Shuffle is a novel focused on the life of Ray Carney, an upstanding furniture salesman paving the way for a life for him and his wife, Elizabeth, and their child with another on the way.

Carney’s cousin, Freddie, would sometimes stop by with a piece of jewelry that Carney would accept without question, as he had a jeweler downtown who wouldn’t ask questions either. When Freddie joins a crew called the “Waldorf of Harlem” who plans to rob the Hotel Theresa, he volunteers Carney’s services as the fence for stolen goods.

Suddenly, Carney is launched into a familiar life as a crook but fights to keep his reputation intact. Readers wonder if Carney and his family are safe, if the heist will go as planned, and if he will be able to maintain his legitimate furniture business despite what Freddie gets him into.

Defined by Penguin Random House as 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.” I rated Harlem Shuffle a 3/5 because while I was interested in the story, I was not invested in the characters, especially Freddie, who had the tendency to make bad decisions in spite of knowing that Carney had more to worry about.

Top Three Quotes:

“Part of moving up in the world is realizing how much shit you used to eat.”

“One thing I’ve learned in my job is that life is cheap, and when things start getting expensive, it gets cheaper still.”

“Someone helps you out by accident, it’s still help.”