Harlem shuffle
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English
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, this gloriously entertaining novel is “fast-paced, keen-eyed and very funny ... about race, power and the history of Harlem all disguised as a thrill-ride crime novel" (San Francisco Chronicle)."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 decent 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 façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time. Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn't ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn't ask questions, either. 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. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes. Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see 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 Shuffle's ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City 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. But mostly, it's a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.Look for Colson Whitehead’s new novel, Crook Manifesto, coming soon!
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9780385545136
9780385545143
9780593455562
9780385545143
9780593455562
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Similar Series From Novelist
NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Police corruption and violent criminal activities are the focus of these fast-paced, intricately plotted, and gritty crime fiction series with a strong sense of place that take place in 1950s Harlem and Los Angeles. -- Andrienne Cruz
These series have the appeal factors strong sense of place, stylistically complex, and own voices, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "family relationships," and "american people"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, and they have the genres "african american fiction" and "hardboiled fiction"; the subjects "crime," "african americans," and "north american people"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, bleak, and own voices, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "american people," and "north american people"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, strong sense of place, and own voices, and they have the genres "african american fiction" and "hardboiled fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "american people," and "north american people"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, strong sense of place, and own voices, and they have the genres "african american fiction" and "hardboiled fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "american people," and "north american people"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, bleak, and own voices, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "american people," and "north american people"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "city life," "crime," and "african americans"; and include the identity "black."
These series have the appeal factors gritty, violent, and own voices, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "american people," and "north american people"; and include the identity "black."
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NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors strong sense of place, and they have the genres "crime fiction" and "noir fiction"; the subjects "city life" and "neighborhoods"; and characters that are "complex characters" and "flawed characters."
NoveList recommends "L. A. quartet" for fans of "Harlem trilogy (Colson Whitehead)". Check out the first book in the series.
1960s LA (One-Shot Harry) and NYC (Harlem Shuffle) provide plenty of atmosphere in these gritty crime novels. -- Autumn Winters
Crime fiction meets literary fiction in these dramatic, suspenseful, and gritty stories about a web of complex characters that are brought together by the criminal underworlds of New Dehli (Age of Vice) and Harlem (Harlem Shuffle). -- Laura Cohen
These books have the appeal factors gritty and strong sense of place, and they have the theme "novels of place"; the genres "literary fiction" and "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "family relationships," and "north american people"; include the identity "black"; and characters that are "complex characters."
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Both set in Harlem, these gripping crime fiction novels transport readers to the 1960s (Harlem Shuffle) as well as the 1930s (Viper's Dream), where well-meaning men swap their humble careers for illicit work. -- Basia Wilson
These books have the appeal factors own voices, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "african american fiction"; the subjects "city life," "african americans," and "american people"; and include the identity "black."
We recommend Blacktop Wasteland for readers who like Harlem Shuffle. Both crime novels share themes of going straight, star Black men, and revolve around jewelry heists. -- Autumn Winters
In these thought-provoking and intricately plotted novels, an enthusiastic relative ropes characters into a soccer (Godwin) or heist (Harlem Shuffle) scheme. Harlem Shuffle takes place in 1960s New York City, while Godwin is set in modern-day Philadelphia. -- CJ Connor
Set in 1960s Harlem (Harlem Shuffle) and Brooklyn (Brooklyn), these humorous novels star seemingly upstanding community members who get caught up in criminal schemes: a heist in Harlem Shuffle; a shooting in Deacon King Kong. -- Kaitlin Conner
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NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Sharing a similarly dark, sardonic, and offbeat sense of humor, these inventive authors write startlingly original novels (and nonfiction) that lay bare the absurdities of modern American life. Playful prose and unconventional narrative techniques can be found in the works of both, which also meditate upon social and racial issues. -- Shauna Griffin
Both authors bend genre and use satire to deconstruct American racial politics, even though Colson Whitehead's humor is much softer than the acidly outrageous jokes of Paul Beatty. -- Autumn Winters
Writing in a variety of genres, these thought-provoking authors' pen highly inventive work that comments on humanity's penchant for self-delusion and control in the service of greed and fear. Both conjure likable, complicated protagonists who are often faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles yet press forward. -- Mike Nilsson
Ta-Nehisi Coates writes nonfiction as well as fiction in graphic novel (appealing primarily to teens) and text novel form, while Colson Whitehead writes books intended for adults. Both provide views of African American experiences through engaging characters, innovative storytelling, and personal experience. -- Katherine Johnson
The inventive and unusual novels of Colson Whitehead and James P. Othmer share a similarly dark sense of humor and unconventional, original settings and plots. Shrewd social commentary can be found in the novels of both authors; however, Whitehead also incorporates meditations specifically on racial issues. -- Shauna Griffin
African-American authors James McBride and Colson Whitehead appeal to a wide range of readers with their fiction and nonfiction. Whitehead more often employs speculative or magical realist tropes in his fiction, but both develop unusual characters and offer thought-provoking, moving, sometimes bleak, and always richly detailed narratives. -- Katherine Johnson
These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak, stylistically complex, and unconventional, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "race relations," and "identity"; and include the identity "black."
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