Colson Whitehead is “simply incapable of writing a bad book”, said Ian Williams in The Guardian. Over 20 years, he has delivered both page-turners and weighty literary blockbusters – the two most recent of which, The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for interrogating the US’s racist past.
Whitehead’s new novel, Harlem Shuffle, sees him revert to a lighter style, said Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Sunday Times. A “pulpy neo-noir” set in the 1960s, it centres on Ray Carney, an ambitious furniture salesman who gets sucked into various criminal schemes. “It’s a red-blooded book full of powerful personalities”, which brings mid-century New York memorably to life.
I was less impressed, said Clive Davis in The Times. Billed as a “family saga masquerading as a crime novel”, Harlem Shuffle consists of “mundane slabs of prose that wander nowhere in particular”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Whitehead is a veritable literary celebrity, the subject of many fawning magazine profiles – but on the evidence of this feeble effort, it’s hard to see what the fuss is about.
Fleet 336pp £16.99; The Week Bookshop £13.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foregroundThe Explainer The network is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fallThe Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pauseThe Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fansThe Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painterThe Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti GatwaThe Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source NotesFeature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
