Part 1 | Truck 1959 · 9

Part 2 | Dorbe 1961 · 161

Part 3 | Calm Down, Honey 1964 · 301

* #1 on the US Amazon charts * New York Times bestseller *
* Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner * 2021 Kirkus Prize finalist *

“Don’t be surprised if this novel wins another literary award.”
_〈Publisher's Weekly〉

The new book, "Harlem Shuffle," by Colson Whitehead, who has set a monumental record of winning the Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the United States, twice, has been published.
Colson Whitehead, who won the Pulitzer Prize in succession for “The Underground Railroad” and “The Nickel Boys,” earning the title of “the first African-American double winner,” is recognized as a world-renowned writer representing modern American literature.
The author, who has continuously expanded his literary horizons by challenging a wide range of subjects and genres, including Pulitzer Prize-winning works that critique American slavery and racism with powerful and vivid language, “District One,” set in a zombie apocalypse, and “The Intuitionist,” a science fiction novel that delves into the problems of social structure, presents caper fiction in this new work.
Caper fiction is a crime fiction genre that features robbery and plunder.
Harlem Shuffle is set in Harlem in the 1960s and tells the story of an ordinary furniture salesman who gets caught up in a robbery and is drawn into a world of crime.
The story, which reveals the realities of contemporary Harlem and the dark sides of crime through black humor, delivers the tension and catharsis of a movie.
The Harlem Shuffle, which garnered heated anticipation in the publishing world just from the news of its publication, immediately reached number one on the Amazon bestseller charts, was selected as a New York Times bestseller, and was nominated for the 2021 Kirkus Award.

Harlem, the city of rock and roll and jazz, and the worst crime zone
A caper fiction of deals and revenge to survive there.

Ray Carney, who runs a furniture store on 125th Street in Harlem, New York, is an ordinary furniture salesman.
Although he occasionally receives cheap jewelry or radios of unknown origin from his cousin Freddie and sells them as second-hand goods, he is still a good citizen who "doesn't commit crimes even if he has no money."
But this simple daily life is shattered by Freddie.
Freddie, who was involved in the robbery of the Teresa Hotel, named Carney as the fencing man who would dispose of the stolen goods.
The problem was that Carney wasn't really the real deal, and among the stolen goods was the belongings of Chink Montague, Harlem's biggest gangster.
But the crisis doesn't end with just one time.
After the thugs who skin people with knives, he is followed by corrupt police officers, bankers, and powerful white tycoons.
With crises approaching one after another, will Kani be able to survive?
The title of the song of the same name, released in 1965, "Harlem Shuffle" refers to Harlem, a city in turmoil with looting, murder, discrimination, and riots.
The novel is set in Harlem, New York's most crime-ridden area, and depicts the process by which an ordinary person becomes a criminal through an unexpected incident.
The protagonist, Ray Carney, tries hard to escape the shadow of his criminal father, but is eventually drawn into the criminal world by his surroundings.
But Kani quickly adapts to reality.
Initially passive, he hatched a meticulous plan to exact revenge and made secret deals with Harlem's criminals.
The author captures the hearts of readers by generously displaying the powerful genre appeal of crime novels through the protagonist's transformation into a master criminal and the unique characters surrounding him.


“He is going in an illegal direction
“It was just a little tilted… … .”
The dual life of a character on the edge of a gray zone

Kani is basically a character familiar with the criminal world.
His father, Big Mike, was a notorious criminal in Harlem, and his cousin Freddie, who always gets Carney in trouble, is a gambling errand boy and drug addict.
Kani desperately tries to distance himself from them, but the circumstances surrounding him make it difficult.
Because of this, Kani is unknowingly tilted slightly in an illegal direction.

If you say it that way, people who don't know might think that Kani often sells off his stuff, but he didn't think that way.
Objects are meant to move naturally in people's lives.
Movement of goods.
And Ray Carney was the one who made that move.
As a middleman.
Legally.
Page 47

After that, Kani began to get involved in crime in earnest, living a double life as a furniture salesman during the day and a fencing man at night.
Even if he doesn't rob or commit murder, he's a fully functioning part of the criminal world.
He is in charge of the movement of stolen goods and acts as a mediator between corrupt police and criminals. He is neither good nor bad, but he does the surprising job of being an 'ordinary criminal'.
When he was just a furniture dealer, Kani used to say, “Sometimes I don’t commit crimes even if I don’t have money,” but at some point he realized the reality and stopped rationalizing to himself.

“Even if I don’t have money sometimes, I don’t commit crimes.”
Kani muttered to himself.
But I had to admit that I also committed crimes.
Page 160


Colson Whitehead's Tribute to Harlem

Colson Whitehead, known for maximizing the realism of his narratives based on extensive research, perfectly recreated Harlem, the center of black culture, and captured the life and culture of the time.
Important historical landmarks like the Apollo Theater and the 1964 Harlem Riots, as well as cultural codes like jazz and rock and roll, vividly recreate the atmosphere of Harlem in the 1960s.
The famous American media outlet Publisher's Weekly also praised the novel's vivid descriptions, saying that its realism rivals that of James Joyce's Dubliners.
A captivating crime drama set in Harlem, The Harlem Shuffle is Colson Whitehead's tribute to the city.
Born from the author's experience living in Harlem as a child and his challenge to embrace a new genre, the novel not only remains faithful to its genre, but also conveys social messages about racial discrimination and class differences.
From the moment you open the first page, this novel will immerse you in the illusion of walking through the rough streets of New York, captivating you with its earnest yet playful language.


■ Recommended Articles

“Don’t be surprised if this novel wins another literary award.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“Colson Whitehead, winner of numerous literary awards including the Pulitzer Prize, has added another genre to his portfolio: crime fiction.” _Booklist
"An American masterpiece." _New York Times Book Review
“It was a time when gangsters, swindlers, robbers and embezzlers were common.
“A serious and humorous portrayal of the double lives of the weak who cross moral standards for survival.” _Amazon Reader Review