Harlem Shuffle

A Novel

By: Colson Whitehead

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listen to, 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!

©2021 Colson Whitehead (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE NOMINEE • New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of the Year • One of The Washington Posts 50 Notable Works of Fiction of the Year • TIME Magazine 100 Must Read Books of the Year • One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, Slate, Boston Globe, Town & Country, Vulture, and more • One of President Obama's Favorite Books of the Year • One of The New York Times Critics' Best Books of the Year

“A rich, wild book that could pass for genre fiction. It’s much more, but the entertainment value alone should ensure it the same kind of popular success that greeted his last two novels, The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys."—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

One of the Ten Best Books of 2021—Laura Miller, Slate

“Colson Whitehead has a couple of Pulitzers under his belt, along with several other awards celebrating his outstanding novels. Harlem Shuffle is a suspenseful crime thriller that's sure to add to the tally—it's a fabulous novel you must read.”—NPR.org

Easy Listening

The protagonist was interesting enough you wanted to live this journey with him. He was a brother doing what he thought was the best he could. I loved his heart and
street smarts. Carney is a serial keeper, like Easy Rawlings.
Coulson you may be-my new ‘Walter Mosley’.

Splendid Listen!

Colton Whitehead’s brilliant, crystalline prose is brought to life by Dion Graham’s fine narration. I don’t know when I have enjoyed a listen as much. Terrific story well told. The mid-century modern furniture serves as a unique and engaging character.

Enjoyable trip to Harlem

I loved the writing style. Story was engaging for me. I liked the reader. Many well-written phrases and descriptions. I am glad our book club chose this book.

Loved it!

This was a great story and the narrator did a terrific job. The narration really makes all the difference with an audio book and Dion Graham was fantastic. I couldn’t stop listening!

amazing narration brings great story to life

fantastic book made even better by an excellent narrator. best audiobook I've listened to in years. cannot recommend highly enough, need more than 5 stars for Dion Graham's performance.

Wasn't a good read for me.

I started this book, 2 times. I felt like I was confused alot and I was all the time feeling like I missed something.
it might have been the books tempo.

Another tour-de-force from Colson Whitehead

Masterful narration, gorgeous prose, intricate plotting, multilayered characters, and Whitehead’s trademark gift for place and history. I finished it hating to come to the end and went right back to the beginning to listen again.

Get to the point already!’

I found myself saying this over and over again. Seemed like an overzealous attempt at “Noir”. I love words, but not this many unnecessary ones. Story could’ve been told in 1/2 the time. Had to force myself to finish this one. The narrator, Dion Graham was awesome as always!

Pepper needs his own novel.

While not as suspenseful as the Nickel Boys another great CW novel, his ability to fold fiction into history is superb. His characters paint the real life picture of men and women often overlooked then and now. Showing the black experience in one burrow or even one neighborhood is not a monolith.

I normally read fiction but...

Loved the story. I tend to read fiction and listen to non-fiction so as not to let the reader influence my imagination about the characters.... I am glad I gave audible a shot on this one. I thought the actor reading the story gave it an amazing backdrop for my own visual imagery.

Great book, great presentation.