Harlem Kerfuffle

 I reviewed the latest Colson Whitehead novel in the East Hampton Star. Called Crook Manifesto, it is set in the '70s and checks in with Ray Carney, the main character from Whitehead's previous novel, Harlem Shuffle. Carney has a furniture store in Harlem, and fences stolen stuff for local gangsters. He's trying to exit what he calls the “secondhand rug business," but his daughter wants Jackson 5 tickets, they are hard to come by, and they are expensive.

The story is told in three parts. “Ringolevio” sees Carney seek out a sketchy police officer named Munson, who is known as a fixer of problems, such as one’s lack of Jackson 5 ducats. “Nefertiti T.N.T.” focuses on a thug named Pepper, who pulled off jobs with Big Mike, and later with Carney. Part three, “The Finishers,” looks at the startling number of buildings burning down in Harlem at the time.

Whitehead offers an intriguing look at an ailing neighborhood, and the individuals hustling to succeed in it.

There may not be a more decorated novelist today. Whitehead picked up Pulitzer Prizes for The Nickel Boys and The Underground Railroad, and has been the recipient of MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships as well.