Harlem Shuffle

Synopsis: To his customers and neighbors on 125th Street, Ray Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and trying to save money to move up in the world. Cash is tight, so Ray discretely fences stolen jewelry on the side to help make ends meet. His side hustle fencing stolen goods draws in a new clientele of shady cops, local gangsters, two-bit pornographers and other assorted Harlem characters. Thus is the internal struggle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. Can Ray avoid getting killed and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furnishing needs?

Review: Colson Whitehead presents a vividly recreated Harlem of the early 1960’s. It’s a family saga, a crime story, a commentary on race and power, but more than anything it’s quite funny and full of memorable characters. Whitehead succeeds in bringing all these characters to life, and while they are not harmless, they are definitely comic. For all the allusions to drugs and murder, there is a lot more humor than blood in this novel. I admire the way Whitehead refuses to be pigeonholed into a genre. Previous works include Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, both pretty weighty subjects, and a zombie novel? There’s a little more talking than action in this novel, but when the writing is this good I think that’s OK

Rating: 4/5

Recipe: Whitehead’s novel doesn’t directly reference Sylvia’s, but it is known as THE destination for soul food cooking in Harlem in the 1960’s. While the restaurant is now closed, there is a cookbook that allows us to enjoy Sylvia’s cooking to this day! Hard to pick one thing, but cornbread is one of my favorites.

Sylvia’s Cornbread

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups corn meal

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

5 eggs, beaten

2 1/2 cups mill

1 cup vegetable oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan

2) Mix all dry ingredients

3) Mix all wet ingredients

4) combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until just combined

5) Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.