Context is everything in this fine first novel. The Cloisters is a gothic museum of medieval, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Researchers search for 15th century tarot cards used for divination – telling the future had been the original purpose of these cards. There is a murder, of course, and academic obsession. What is fate and what is choice? Sinister secrets abound and the ending is especially seductive.
Tag: New York
Crook Manifesto – Colson Whitehead
This is the second book (first is Harlem Shuffle) of what will be a trilogy about life in the east side of New York City (Harlem). As always, context is everything in the 1970s: progressive chaos and disintegration of the city, profound police corruption, blaxploitation movies, arson and bent politicians. Whitehead’s writing is sublime: “It was a glorious June morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the ambulances were screaming, and the daylight falling on last night’s crime scenes made the blood twinkle like dew in a green heaven”. The exploits of Ray Carney, furniture store owner and occasional fence, continue in a shady system. Highly recommended.
What David Read 