Books by Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead (Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, renowned for his masterful storytelling and insightful explorations of American history and culture. Born in 1969, Whitehead has captivated readers with his diverse literary works that span various genres, from literary fiction to nonfiction. He gained widespread acclaim for his multi-award winning novel The Underground Railroad, a gripping and imaginative portrayal of slavery in America.
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
🏆 Winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Colson Whitehead's much anticipated follow-up to The Underground Railroad follows two black boys sentenced to reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. Whitehead based his hellish vision on a real-life institution which was run for more than 100 years. The Nickel Boys was recently adapted for the screen by RaMell Ross; the acclaimed film stars Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson.
Crook Manifesto
by Colson Whitehead
☆ Shortlisted for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead is the follow-up to his 2021 heist novel Harlem Shuffle. It's now the 1970s and Harlem furniture shop owner Ray Carney is determined to stay on the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, he risks it all to get some tickets to see the Jackson 5 for his daughter. This is a story that brings 1970s New York alive but does require you to care about the characters, so it may be worth starting with Harlem Shuffle before embarking on Crook Manifesto. A third book in what has been billed as a trilogy is also expected.
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
🏆 Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
🏆 Winner of the 2017 Arthur C Clarke Award
Colson Whitehead transforms 'the Underground Railroad'—the nickname for the network of safe houses used by fugitive slaves escaping the American South—into a very real rail system in this stunning work of speculative fiction. Since publication in 2016, it was an international bestseller, garnered praise from (among others) Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, and won a number of major literary prizes.
“The Intuitionist is an interesting book because it tiptoes right along border between metaphysical and physical reality. There’s a deeper question that emerges by the end of the novel which I don’t want to spoil. But all along, the opposition between the empiricists and the intuitionists is slightly unstable. It operates as a metaphor for different ways of knowing or making sense of the world—through a hyperrational or mechanistic lens, or via a somewhat more intuitive, spiritual, or philosophical one. By the end, I think you may feel that neither one nor the other is exactly right, or can exist alone.” Read more...
The Best Metaphysical Thrillers
Greg Jackson, Novelist
“A 1960s-set heist billed as ‘a family saga masquerading as a crime novel’. Whitehead’s high concept novels have often leaned on the conventions of genre fiction—and subverted them to glorious effect. For Harlem Shuffle, Whitehead turned for inspiration to caper films, crafting his comedic, intricately complex plot in their image.” Read more...
Cal Flyn, Five Books Editor
Interviews where books by Colson Whitehead were recommended
Notable Novels of Fall 2021, recommended by Cal Flyn
Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn offers a round-up of the notable novels that need to be on your literary radar in Fall 2021, including the hotly anticipated new book from Sally Rooney—set to dominate bestseller lists in the coming weeks—as well as eagerly awaited follow-ups from Richard Osman and Elizabeth Strout, and a return to more traditional fiction from Karl Ove Knausgård.
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1
The Invention of Morel
by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated by Ruth L. C. Simms -
2
If On A Winter's Night A Traveller
by Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver -
3
Chess Story
by Stefan Zweig, translated by Joel Rotenberg -
4
The Intuitionist
by Colson Whitehead -
5
The Lost Daughter
by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
The Best Metaphysical Thrillers, recommended by Greg Jackson
The Best Metaphysical Thrillers, recommended by Greg Jackson
Metaphysical literature calls into question the very nature of reality, says the acclaimed US novelist Greg Jackson: it dramatises “the liquid mysteries of thought, pattern, and form.” Here, he highlights five ‘metaphysical thrillers’—artfully written novels powered by intrigue, which explore or embody philosophical dilemmas.
Magical Realism Books, recommended by Five Books interviewees
If you enjoy some fantastical elements in your literature—but you aren’t quite ready for full-on swords and sorcery—then perhaps magical realism books are for you. As a genre, magical realism is often associated with South America, thanks in large part to the ‘father of magical realism’ Gabriel García Márquez and mega-bestselling books by Isabel Allende, but examples can be found from all over the world. We’ve put a list of must-read titles.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novels
Every year, the Pulitzer Prize jury awards $15,000 to a work of “distinguished fiction published during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.” We’ve compiled a guide to the books that have won this prize since the turn of the millennium.
