Inhabiting 1980s New York in Whitehead's Cool Machine

 Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead

Cool Machine book cover

Author Colson Whitehead

Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy of Cool Machine, Colson Whitehead’s third entry into the world of Ray Carney, Northeast Regional Furniture Dealer of the Month (August 1981), the first Afro American Furniture Dealer of the Month, and occasional fence, whose been looking to get out of the game since the late 60s. Colson Whitehead is one of my favorite authors, and one of the authors whose books I look forward to reading. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to inhabit the immersive world of Ray Carney and a long-ago New York, filled with incredibly detailed descriptions of furniture, restaurants and shops, and lots of thrilling and morally ambiguous characters who readers can end up rooting for. I was especially glad to see Pepper, Carney’s enforcer, back in action for these stories since Carney leaves some question as to the nature of Pepper’s absences. Just like Harlem Shuffle and Crook Manifesto, White takes readers into Ray Carney’s furniture shop and his side hustles for making some extra loot. This time, however, Carney and his wife, Elizabeth, are empty nesters, and Carney’s heist funds are helping to pay his kids’ college tuition and serve as capital for Elizabeth’s expansion to her own travel agency in the boom of Black tourism of the Caribbean. This was an exciting read that I couldn’t put down. Whitehead elevates crime fiction and thrillers to new literary heights, incorporating not only real characters, events, and scenes from 1980s New York, but also adding trenchant and relevant commentary that resonates with modern readers. 

While Ray Carney functions as a throughline for these three stories that take place over the 1980s, I found that Whitehead’s other characters featured throughout the book provide more of the action and flavor in these stories. For example, in the first story, “City at Night”, Carney is forced into a heist as one of his contacts has been beaten by a mob group led by a nefarious villain named Buzz. Buzz is out for revenge after the infamous thief Uncle Rich ripped Buzz off during a previous heist. Unbeknownst to Carney, he worked with Uncle Rich, and Buzz sees this connection as a means to get revenge on Uncle Rich. Carney is then blackmailed into leading Buzz’s gang to the elusive Uncle Rich. Yet, Uncle Rich, anticipating the revenge, ends up escaping with Carney, requiring Carney’s support and skills for an epic heist. While most heists end up netting these crews some loot, this heist is more personal and significant to Uncle Rich. He’s going to break into the Waldorf, one of the most upscale hotels in NY, and take back Jesse Owen’s Olympic gold medals from the 1936 Berlin games. The job has symbolic significance for Uncle Rich as he feels some kind of way about Owens’ plight as a revered Olympic athlete who was forced to not only race animals for money, but also to eventually sell his gold medals to placate Uncle Sam’s tax debt. Carney also sees significance in Owens’ story as both the need for a plan in life to manage things like taxes, but also of the systemic inequality that Black athletes face(d) in American society. I loved the character of Uncle Rich and his crew of siblings Rita and Jeff, Newark transplants raised by Black Panthers, looking to stick it to the man once again. Furthermore, Whitehead’s story takes us underground, both literally and figuratively, as we inhabit a New York that shows us more below the surface, including a kind of alternate society with its own mayor who rises to the challenges and seeks feedback by constantly questioning “How am I doin’?” Part of the other throughline with these stories involves the rise of cable as a mode of not only entertainment but also communication and income. Uncle Rich and others in the stories recognize the potential for controlling the cable industry and see it as a means to control another sector of New York, even if it is underground. This leads to the thrilling caper with the attempted heist while Buzz’s violent crew pursues Uncle Rich. 

The second story, “Here Comes Sue Simmons”, was my favorite. This story takes place in 1983 and primarily features Pepper, Carney’s. enforcer, who despite constant stomach problems, is connected to an art buyer through Elizabeth. Pepper accompanies the buyer to an underground, downtown club to purchase a stolen mask from the Fang tribe. While Pepper’s buyer holds on to the briefcase full of money and searches for his seller, Pepper’s stomach pains force him to the bathroom. When he returns, the buyer is on the ground and the seller has exited the club with the money. Pepper’s job description shifts from enforcer to detective, searching the city for the stolen money and the mask. Pepper eventually teams up with LJ, a mohawk wearing punk who takes her name from the Television song “Little Johnny Jewel”, which was such a cool reference. One of the reasons I loved this section was all of the downtown NY references like seeing ESG play a show in this club and the Basquiat-like messages that appear tagged everywhere around the city. LJ knows the guy who stole the money and offers to work with Pepper to track him down. However, LJ also works for another art dealer who seeks to return stolen artifacts to their home countries, so her motivations are not only hidden, but also somewhat similar to Uncle Rich’s in the first story- reclaiming Black artifacts and treasures from an opportunistic world that traffics in Black history and culture. This story also features the best villain, who is only known as The Melancholy Hitman, a psychopath who seems to be struggling with connections despite his attempts to mimic typical human behavior, like taking tours around NY. It’s interesting that the Melancholy Hitman can blend in so easily, like wearing a mask of a normal person, since this story is about the power of a mask to transform whoever possesses it. As LJ explains, the Fang wore these masks as part of a tribal council that dispensed a kind of frightening justice that helped to keep society in line. In some ways, both Pepper and the Melancholy Hitman dispense their own kind of justice, but at opposite ends of the morality spectrum. This was a thrilling story that I couldn’t put down, with alternating narratives that follow Pepper and the Melancholy Hitman. Plus, all the references to downtown New York in the early 80s are fun to read, and Pepper’s friend and filmmaker Zippo also makes an appearance to help him and LJ recover the mask. Zippo is working on an interesting project that highlights the racist undertones in popular movies from the past. Whitehead allows readers to immerse themselves in the downtown scene that was a bubbling stew of art, music, and film, witnessing how some of these disparate scenes coalesced to bring help styles like hip-hop emerge from the underground and club scenes. 

The final story, “No Radio”, was also a great, exciting story that takes place in 1986. In this story, Carney’s nephew, who ended up working for a lawyer, is a witness to the murder of his lawyer boss and is on the lam. Although Carney grew up with his cousin Freddie, they eventually drifted apart, going down opposite directions, with Carney going to school and Freddie continuing his learning at the notorious Tombs. Carney notes that Freddie was never the same and died soon afterwards. It was at Freddie’s funeral that Carney learned about his nephew, Robert, and Freddie’s wife. Now, years later, Carney needs to find Robert to learn more about what happened, especially as Robert is pursued by a mob enforcer named Rabbit. Like the “Here Comes Sue Simmons” story, this story features alternating narratives that pair Carney and Pepper’s search for Robert with Rabbit’s quest to ensure Robert doesn’t go to the police. The title also refers to the changing nature of New York, when more residents posted “No Radio” signs on their cars, which both Carney and Pepper see as a sign of weakness in a city that is seemingly indifferent if not antagonistic to the meek and mild. It’s also a symbol of the change that enveloped New York in the 80s as it began its gentrification, ushering in new residents who helped to change many of the neighborhoods and institutions, including Donegal’s, the bar Pepper and Carney frequented. I really enjoyed this story not only for the great narrative structure and characters that inhabit this New York of the 1980s, but it also aligns well with the themes of the story about change, evolution and growth, and aging, as both Carney and Pepper are getting older and questioning the nature of their work. Both men have found some sense of peace and purpose in doing less but will always come out to help family and friends. There are many other interesting references to real life characters and events, but New York remains one of the primary characters throughout all three stories, and probably all three books. Whitehead presents New York as much more than a setting, but as both a protagonist and antagonist, that will provide a way for the characters like Carney to make a living and support their family, but also offers challenges and threats, as we see Carney, Elizabeth, and Pepper grow and adapt to these challenges. 

Cool Machine is a great book not just because it’s fun and exciting, but because it recreates a world from the past and allows readers to inhabit New York at different stages in the 1980s. Furthermore, Whitehead has the amazing characters who populate these worlds, whether they are underground, in clubs, or hanging around Carney’s furniture store. Whitehead’s descriptions of furniture, streets, and other parts of the setting create a fuller, richer portrait of New York and the characters in the book. However, Cool Machine is also great genre reading, which Whitehead once again elevates to new heights. Highly recommended reading!