Book Review: "Harlem Shuffle" and "Crook Manifesto" by Colson Whitehead

robertmcgrath

Jan 21

Harlem Shuffle (2021) by Colson Whitehead
Crook Manifesto (2023) by Colson Whitehead

These two books follow the life of Ray Carney, his friends and family, from 1959 to 1964 (Harlem Shuffle (2021)), and then into the 1970s (Crook Manifesto (2023)).

Harlem Shuffle(2021) opens in 1959, and continues into the 60s.

Ray Carney is the son of a crook, but he (mostly) operates a legit furniture store in Harlem. In this saga, Whitehead unrolls a long shaggy dog story of Ray's double life as a furniture salesman and a thief and fence. The story is as much about New York City and Harlem as it is about furniture sales or crime.

Ray himself is actually really good at the furniture business; and his store is successful. Well, OK, he does some side business in stolen goods, mostly jewelry. But he really seems to want to be straight. As straight as Harlem allows.

Unfortunately, Harlem doesn't allow. While Ray's family is straight as straight gets, the friends he grew up with are bent as bent gets. So, Ray is dragged into caper after caper, risking everything time and again, often to help a friend as much as make a score.

Ray seems to know practically everyone, and he seems to know Harlem inside out. He also knows his furniture—we are treated to many asides about product lines over time, what sells to whom, and what Ray likes and doesn't like.

Ray has to navigate the racism of segregated New York, and the crashing waves of desegregation and civil rights that change Harlem and everything else.

Crook Manifesto moves on into the 1970s, which overlaps with my own memories, so it's far more entertaining for me. (There is nothing like having the cultural foibles from your childhood paraded before you! It seemed so serious and meaningful at the time! ) I particularly loved the production of the Blaxploitation movie, not quite titled 'Nefertiti Jones'. : - )

By the seventies, Ray was retired from the crooked stuff. Really. He means it.

But his daughter had to, had to, had to, have tickets to the upcoming Jackson 5 concert, so Ray reached out to everybody he knows. And promptly got sucked in to a seriously bad and dangerous rampage. The things we do for our kids.

Later in the seventies, Ray gets dragged into yet more ill-advised capering surrounding production of a Blaxploitation movie ("Filmed in Harlem USA".) And then another seriously bad idea, tangled up with a very crooked politician.

In every escapade, Ray does what he has to do, while noticing the furnishings and often wishing he was somewhere else. Ray is a real Noir guy, he stands by his family and friends, tries to protect the innocent, against the grain of the dark heart of the city..

Reading Whitehead and Edwards (i.e., Viviana Valentine), I can't help but compare.

Both these authors clearly have spent enormous effort researching and recreating everyday life in the city in the 50s and on. Both Edwards and Whitehead lavish detailed attention to mid-century landscapes, interiors, fashion, language, and popular culture of NYC.

It is noticeable that, like their authors, the main characters in both series are acute observers of the city, its people, and its fashions. They also share some interests and goals.

Whitehead's story begins roughly contemporaneous with Edwards, but set in Harlem ("uptown" rather than "downtown"). Ray rarely visit Viviana's city, and she rarely visits Harlem.

Viviana Valentine untangles mysteries and solves crimes. Ray Carney both untangles mysteries and executes crimes. Both get involved in dark and dangerous deeds, risking all to protect the little guys and rescue the innocent. Both fight for truth and honesty in a corrupt and deceiving city. And both stand by their friends.

There are differences, of course. Viviana frequently comes up against the raw deal handed to women and sexual outsiders. Ray has suffered and suffers racism every day of his life. (Whitehead writes about little other than the historical and imaginative experience of racism in the US.) Viviana finds the police mostly helpful and decent, Ray finds them mostly corrupt and racist.

These stories actually go together pretty well, because they are talking about the same time and the same city. Radically different points of view, but the same place.

Both these authors have spent enormous effort researching and recreating everyday life in this city. The clothes, the food, the architecture, and, of course, the language.

I wonder what would we get if they collaborated on a joint project? What would Viviana and Tommy think of Ray and Pepper? How would Ray get along with a smart-ass white female PI?

I should say that that whatever their overlapping topics and interests, I find Whitehead to be far and away the better writer. Ray and company seem to really live in Harlem in the 50-70s. In comparison, Viviana and friends seem to be tourists from today, cosplaying the old times. There is really no comparison.

(Let's be fair--the Viviana Valentine stories seem to be intended to be light entertainment, Whitehead has higher ambitions. There is nothing wrong with light entertainment.)