Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

If anyone would like to lead the discussion for Harlem Shuffle, please let me know
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I am so excited about this book! I'd be interested. Make a schedule and encourage discussion through questions?

Tricia wrote: "I am so excited about this book! I'd be interested. Make a schedule and encourage discussion through questions?"

Yes, that would be great!

Tricia wrote: "I am so excited about this book! I'd be interested. Make a schedule and encourage discussion through questions?"

Sean, have you started the book yet? I buddy read it earlier this year with some friends and we had one helluva discussion. There’s a lot here to unpack. I’m super excited about book #2 in this saga CROOKS MANIFESTO Crook Manifesto

Just wanna say I started the book a few days ago and wow! This type of writing is why I fell in love with both reading and writing. Whitehead is a phenom. I would love to discuss the colorism, elitism, and backdrop of subtle racism. I find myself laughing aloud often. I read bits and pieces to my husband here and there, and he’s always ensnared. I think African American property ownership + land ownership + entrepreneurship are also frequent themes worthy of discussing too. Great book pick

I'm looking forward to this even though I didn't like nearly as much as I did The Nickel Boys.

Karin, I agree. I much preferred The Nickel Boys.

Please rank the Colson Whitehead books you’ve read. Here’s the complete list:

The Intuitionist (1999)
John Henry Days (2001)
The Colossus of New York (2003)
Apex Hides the Hurt (2006)
Sag Harbor (2009)
Zone One (2011)
The Noble Hustle (2014)
The Underground Railroad (2016)
The Nickel Boys (2019)
Harlem Shuffle (2022)

My faves from least to absolute best:

6) Sag Harbor
5) The Nickel Boys
4) Harlem Shuffle
3) The Underground Railroad
2) John Henry Days
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ The Intuitionist

Glad that this one was selected. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a vivid rendering of a distinctive place and time. The level of research that went into the furniture and appliance business alone was impressive.

I haven't started it and won't until January 1st

I have only read 4 of his books so far. Nickel Boys, Underground Railroad, Zone One and The Intuitionist

Harlem Shuffle is divided into 3 parts. Can I recommend that we Read Part 1 (pages 1-104) January 1-7th, then being able to discuss that on the 7th. Read Part 2 (pages 105-204) January 8-14th, being able to discuss Part 1 & 2. Then, read Part 3 (205- The End), then being able to discuss that entire book freely between January 22-31st. Is this okay or too rigorous?

That schedule works for me.

This is my first time reading this author so I’m really excited 😊

I do have The Underground Railroad on my TBR list, but this will be my first time reading this author. I’m excited, so I made sure to check out the audiobook from my library today.

I haven't read this one but Whitehead is in my "top 5 alive" authors

Karin wrote: "I'm looking forward to this even though I didn't like nearly as much as I did The Nickel Boys."

We did Nickel Boys read here years prior, and sadly, I was not a fan. I hope this works since I did like Underground Railroad, which they did a series on it...think Prime showed it.

T wrote: "I do have The Underground Railroad on my TBR list, but this will be my first time reading this author. I’m excited, so I made sure to check out the audiobook from my library today."

I hope you'll enjoy. This is not my first read, third I believe, and got both audio and ebook versions today via Library Overdrive/Libby App.

Tricia wrote: "Harlem Shuffle is divided into 3 parts. Can I recommend that we Read Part 1 (pages 1-104) January 1-7th, then being able to discuss that on the 7th. Read Part 2 (pages 105-204) January 8-14th, bein..."

I will try even though I run two book groups at work. Luckily they are reading the same books, and almost done with one of the reads before I go back to work next week. I can get started on this one tomorrow.

Hi, Adrienna! I look forward to your participation as I think we did the other one together.
I'm going to try to focus on 2 books at a time this coming year. I'm starting Harlem Shuffle Jan 1st because I have to finished Paradise by Toni Morrison and Up From Slavery by Booker T Washington today

Happy New Year, y’all 😎 now let’s get to the nitty gritty! What y’all think about the cover for starters? I think it’s so befitting and eye catching

Tricia wrote: "Hi, Adrienna! I look forward to your participation as I think we did the other one together.
I'm going to try to focus on 2 books at a time this coming year. I'm starting Harlem Shuffle Jan 1st be..."

Hey Sean. Good reads. I will see if I got the chance to read UP from Slavery, if not, I will do this year. I love Toni's work. I'll have to see if I read since I have read things then find out I already read it even though years later may read it again.

Raabasha, I love the color. Without read any of the book (7 pages in) the coloration might be an ode to late 60s soul... red, black and green... and then we see what appears to be a safe combination, a crowbar, bell bottom pants, and a diamond... clues I'm sure

Adrianna, At the time of its release Morrison referred to it as her best work. Up From Slavery is inspiring, while some of Mr Washington's ideas I would like to argue. I wish I had read it before I went to college.

I read Thier Eyes Were Watching God on 2022 and realized 20 pages in I had already read it maybe 25 years ago...smh... classic!

Tricia wrote: "Adrianna, At the time of its release Morrison referred to it as her best work. Up From Slavery is inspiring, while some of Mr Washington's ideas I would like to argue. I wish I had read it before I..."

Right! Some books are worth reading 5, 10, or even 25 years later. You may be in a different mindset or place to receive it, or not. I see I did read Up from Slavery, but didn't like it 5 years ago. Prob read it at work since I do work in a library. We had it there. I also read it from public libraries, yet I want to read my own library collection for years that I put on hold. I will finally make time this year for sure.

I am reading about 20% of the book already. Hm. I wait to see others take on this one.

Sean, I did put Paradise on my TBR list. I see it is a trilogy from Beloved. So I have to read Jazz first then Paradise.

So, maybe there are different book covers because the one I have shows a building, part of a man's face that shows his eye, a diamond and bell bottom pants. The colors are yellow, red, green and black.

I was thinking the same thing about the colors being an ode to that 60s era but the yellow threw me off a bit.

Is anyone listening to the audio book? The narrator has an amazing voice, he sounds like a late night smooth RNB radio personality. The narrator really does a great job at helping me connect with the main character.

yes Shaylah...I hope Sha for short is ok. Drina for short is cool for me. I'm listening to audiobook and following with ebook. he put me to sleep last night, which I set to do so.

I read Jazz at the beginning of 2022.

?
What does the title make you think of?

Tricia wrote: "?
What does the title make you think of?"

Hollywood shuffle?

Yes. Do you think it will lend us any clues or guide the book in anyway? A question for when we are finished will be 'Was the title Harlem Shuffle a good choice?'

Hey Drina, you can use Shay for a shortened version of my name.

When I first found out about the book I immediately thought about the Harlem Shake dance but I wasn't sure if the Harlem shuffle was a dance. I googled it and found its a dance and song. However, with all of that going in my mind I was also thinking this is probably about being involved in the street life of Harlem back in the day. I wasn't sure what aspect of street life because I hadn't read the synopsis yet.

Being that I just got to chapter six, I would say the book is titled perfectly.

This is a great discussion so far and it's inspired me to grab the book off my shelf and read along. With so many books set in NYC during the late 60s and 70s, it's refreshing - and intriguing - to see that Whitehead set this in the late 50s to mid-60s.

I reviewed the "Covers" for this book selection.
Audiobook (on phone) shows a safe knob to turn or unlock, two faces one more distinctive than the other with just an eye, crowbar, harlem building, and diamond. This depiction is there is a robbery, diamond heist, with two or more people involved with the use of a crowbar and turning the bank door lock. I do see a woman silhouetted and see them walking in bell bottoms which tells us the era (60s-70s). The eBook COVER displays less, only the one person with the eye, diamond, building, and bell-bottoms but unable to see full silhouette or image.

Shaylah wrote: "Hey Drina, you can use Shay for a shortened version of my name.

When I first found out about the book I immediately thought about the Harlem Shake dance but I wasn't sure if the Harlem shuffle was..."

I agree with you Shay. I am also up to chapter 6 on audiobook, and reading from 4-6 in the eBook version.

shuffle--during this era, could it also mean "hustle and jive"?

Hey everyone :) excited to join this discussion, already so much cool input!

I’m about halfway done (but will wait with discussing later parts until after the 7th of course). It took me a while to get into it, because a lot of the context & use of language of 1960s New York wasn’t familiar to me. But I felt the same way with Underground Railroad at the start & it ended up being one of my all time favourites.

Whitehead is definitely up there among my top 5 alive authors too! Went to a reading of his before the pandemic and he’s also ridiculously humble, kind and down to earth. Really looking forward to read more from him now.

Hey Clara,
I just finished part one on the audio book now I’m going back to read part one so I can take a few notes to discuss on the 7th. I can’t wait because there’s so much to say, I’m really loving it.

Yea, it took me a bit to get into it as well when I was reading it. So I switched to the audio version and hearing the dialog helped me understand what was happening so much better.

Hey Drina,
I just finished part one. I certainly think hustling and jiving is involved.

I'm still on chapter six, reading other teams at same time, but good to know Shay

Welcome Clara,
I really think he is bringing 1960s Harlem to life in this book. The places, people, the references to culture, the slang/lingo, the issues... it's all encompassing, and that puts you there. I'm not sure if it's the audio or the writing but parts almost make me feel like I'm in a Walter Mosley/ Easy Rawlins book.

Hey Shayla,

Ok good to know I’m not alone on this :D. Wasn’t sure if it’s because English is my second language that I didn’t quite get everything from the start. But maybe the audiobook will make it easier & what you’ve said about the narrator sounds super promising :)
I’m now in part II and already find it a lot easier, maybe I needed the adjustment period of part II to understand the lingo properly.

Hi Tricia,

Thank you, I’m really excited to take part :)
I agree, it really creates an atmosphere that’s so tangible, despite me personally having no real knowledge about Harlem of the 60s or any of the subcultures that are described in the book (from the elite Dumas club members to smaller Black business owners to the world of the “crooks”). So it’s weird how well I can picture it, even smells and the like, just from his descriptions. And he somehow does it without going on for pages about minor details of the scenery like some authors do.

Sorry, I have to clarify... I'm Sean (Tricia's husband) ...Nice to meet those I'm not already familar with from previous discussions.

Finally picking this book up today to join in! Excited.

Welcome, Anthony! It moved. I'm done with part one reading about 25 pages a day.

One thing I love about Colson Whitehead is how varied his work is - in a good way. The three books of his that I've read - The Underground Railroad, The Nickel Boys, and now Harlem Shuffle - are all quite different from each other, yet each is very good in its own way.

@ David, The same is true for Zone One and The Intuitionist... very different, very good.

Hello all!
I've been in the group for a while but this will be my first book reading and discussion. Looking forward to sharing with all of you.