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Harlem Shuffle
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
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Harlem Shuffle
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Summary
From the author of The Underground Railroad (now a major Amazon Prime TV show)
'Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked....'
To his customers and neighbours on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a 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 and bigger all the time.
See, cash is tight, especially with all those instalment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace at the furniture store, Ray doesn't see the need to ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweller downtown who also doesn't ask questions.
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, after all. Now Ray has to cater to a new clientele, one made up of shady cops on the take, vicious minions of the local crime lord and numerous other Harlem lowlifes.
Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he starts to see the truth about 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 is driven by an ingeniously intricate plot that plays out in a beautifully recreated Harlem 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.
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What listeners say about Harlem Shuffle
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- tom charles
- 23-02-23
Never in the present
Skipping over the fact that I never chimed with Carney, I found it relentlessly frustrating that only 10% of the book appeared to take place in the present. Each Part of the book jumps forward approximately 3-years, at which point we get a flood of meandering flashbacks and meet a couple of dozen characters; most of whom have no impact whatsoever on the proceedings. Then, if we’re lucky, we get three or four scenes in the book’s current present. And before we know it we jump forward another three years.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T
- 11-10-21
Rich, tender and gripping with brilliant performance
This is a wonderful listen, by turns gripping and tender, exploring such themes as destiny, choice, family and loyalty set against the history of Harlem and the civil rights movement. Brilliantly performed and utterly compelling. Loved it
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Compass
- 26-07-22
Maybe it was just me, but..
I enjoyed this book much less than I was expecting. It was more about Harlem than it was about the people. Yes, Harlem was a character in the book, but I the other main characters seemed thin.
My biggest complaint though was I struggled to understand the narrator, which was essential to following the plot. My advice therefore is to listen to clip and make your own mind up before purchasing.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- pema
- 25-01-22
I hope there will be a sequel
Great writing, fantastic speaking voice made each character come alive. I think even more fun to listen than to read this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hamburgerpatty
- 19-12-21
Crooked world; straight world...
Harlem Shuffle is a novel of contrasts: love, power, envy, greed, attitudes, Everyone hussles. Everyone ends up playing the game of life; a game where the rules can change in a heartbeat. Though a few rules remain constant - one being everyone has their hand out to someone else. (Cashed filled envelopes are often present). Another rule is life is cheap, and as the author observes - 'when things start getting expensive, it gets cheaper still'.
Colin Whitehead's novel is a story of Ray Carney, a good man going to bad while still wanting to do good things. Carney's focus is on himself and his furniture business, his family and his friends and their survival. He endeavours to navigate being the son of a man gone to bad, being a cousin to a man gone to bad and wanting to ensure his children don't go to bad by giving them better opportunities including the family car, housing and furniture. Poor Carney has so many 'Daddy or Chips' decisions to make - because his past won't go away and well, bills do need to be paid, revenge needs to be sought, and he wants to climb the ladder of life. Even more Carney wants to climb two ladders: neither ladder is a straight ladder. And the reader might conclude that one or both ladders are up against the wrong wall. Yet, Carney wants to be Known. He is proud that his name is above a furniture store in Harlem. He is a good fence. Daddy or chips - who is going to get the wish.
It's a novel where bad things happen (heists, murders, shakedowns), but I didn't feel there were too many 'bad characters'. Memorable ones, yes.
Among the many joys of this novel (in addition to Dion Graham's performance), were the number of pithy observation Carney makes either in his mind or to other people. I especially enjoyed his sideways remarks about the home furnishings of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
A wonderful listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nigel
- 10-09-23
Interesting and engaging throughout.
I enjoyed the story and the narration made the experience even more of a pleasure.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Angela
- 28-07-23
Good listen
I Thoroughly enjoyed this story, loved the reading of it too. Very evocative and atmospheric
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amanda
- 07-07-23
Meandering but enjoyable
Meandering a little, without a definitive story running through, just years in the life of Carney, but I did preserve and enjoyed it. Narrator was good
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Harry
- 14-01-23
Meandering
Never quite going anywhere. Personally I found the unannounced flashbacks/forwards made it hard to keep track of things at least in this audiobook format. It was fine though.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Zilla
- 02-12-22
Good listen
Really enjoyed this listen. Not gripping to be honest but a good story and an excellent performance.
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