Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy—comprised of the bestselling novels Harlem Shuffle, Crook Manifesto, and Cool Machine—is headed for the small screen. As Variety reported this morning, Apple TV has acquired the rights to all three books in a plum development deal.
Whitehead’s series chronicles a changing Harlem over a thirty year span in the 20th century. All three books center Ray Carney, “a furniture salesman who can’t help but be drawn” into the criminal underworld.
We first meet Carney in the 1950s, but the most recent novel finds him at his 80s apex. Equal parts crime fiction and social satire, the books have cultivated that rare crossover appeal. Obama’s a fan of the trilogy; but so are these guys.
That big tent is characteristic to Whitehead’s mid career. Though he started out writing wry spec fiction in a Gen X tradition that placed him alongside certain Jonathans, his recent novels—Harlem trilogy included—have been marked by a spirited, yarn like quality that makes for books as fun to read as they are to think about.
Time magazine called him America’s storyteller. Which is to say, the recent thirst for screen adaptations of his work makes a lot of sense.
As Variety reports, a crack team of TV vets are on the adaptation case. Graham Yost and Aric Avelino are writing scripts for the series. And Barry Jenkins, of Moonlight, is slated to executive produce.
If this wasn’t enough to get you excited, know there’s plenty proof of concept where the material is concerned. Previous Whitehead adaptations include RaMell Ross’ brilliant take on The Nickel Boys, and another Apple TV series based on his novel, The Underground Railroad.
Watch this space for stunt casting predictions.
