Discussion Questions for Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
- What does this novel want you to feel about the illegal acts Carney, Freddie, and Pepper commit? Are there good guys and bad guys in this story?
- One reviewer for The New York Times says that Harlem Shuffle “reads like a book whose author thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing.” Did you feel Whitehead’s enjoyment?
- Another reviewer for The New York Times comments that Carney “is a master not just of “fencing” (serving as a middleman for thieves) but also of self-deception. A striving furniture retailer with a sideline in crookery … Carney clings to the false assurance that he’s not really a shyster.” Do you agree with this assessment of Carney’s view of himself? Is his view of himself consistent throughout the novel?
- A reviewer for The Wall Street Journal describes Carney as someone whose “…mind is a company whose well-staffed justification department works overtime. ‘Everyone had secret corners and alleys that no one else saw,’ the close-third-person narrator tells us, but ‘what mattered were your major streets and boulevards, the stuff that showed up on other people’s maps of you.’”
- In an interview with Vulture, Whitehead says, “The fence is always like, ‘Oh, I’ll give you ten cents on the dollar.’ And it always seems so appalling. So I decided to make the fence a hero.” In what ways does Whitehead make Carney a hero?
- A reviewer for NPR says, “[n]o matter how much trouble he finds, we can’t help but root for Ray Carney every step of the way.” Were you rooting for Carney? What were you rooting for him to do?
- Several reviewers and interviewers have commented that this book is very different from Whitehead’s previous books. Have you read any of his previous books? What do you think?
- Did Ray try to get out of crime? How hard? In what ways?
For more questions, check out the publisher’s resources.
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