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A review by foosreadsandwrites
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
5.0
This felt like a hard-boiled detective novel from the opposite perspective. The prose took some getting used to, for me, but once I did I really enjoyed it. Ray Carney is such a fun hero and the entourage of characters are well developed and intriguing.
I’ve always loved any story that has a heavy world-building element - usually fantasy and Sci-Fi kind of stuff - and this book has it. Harlem shape-shifts in each of the three parts in Harlem Shuffle, showing the reader the same place from widely varied perspectives. Whitehead uses real history and fictional characters to show the historical significance of Harlem in the 50s/60s. Whitehead does what all great world-builders do: show us what life in like in the valley, and then take us from there to the mountaintops.
I’d encourage you to read it! Part 2 (of 3) was easily my favorite. I would love a series of books with Carney just doing more of what he did in part 2…all the way up.
I read this book as an Advance Reader Copy, Courtesy of NetGalley.
I’ve always loved any story that has a heavy world-building element - usually fantasy and Sci-Fi kind of stuff - and this book has it. Harlem shape-shifts in each of the three parts in Harlem Shuffle, showing the reader the same place from widely varied perspectives. Whitehead uses real history and fictional characters to show the historical significance of Harlem in the 50s/60s. Whitehead does what all great world-builders do: show us what life in like in the valley, and then take us from there to the mountaintops.
I’d encourage you to read it! Part 2 (of 3) was easily my favorite. I would love a series of books with Carney just doing more of what he did in part 2…all the way up.
I read this book as an Advance Reader Copy, Courtesy of NetGalley.