Colson Whitehead Discusses New Novel ‘Cool Machine’ — Harvard Gazette

How to Die and Be Reborn in Colson Whitehead’s New York

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author opens up about midlife, the state of writing, and how his new book, ‘Cool Machine,’ makes sense of the world

Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead: A triumph of molls, dolls and deadpan humour

After any chapter of Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy, I feel as though I am reading a particularly operatic story by Damon Runyon, complete with molls, dolls and Broadway-laden side-eyes. It is the kind of widescreen social drama that immediately reads like a screenplay. With pitch-perfect colloquialisms and deadpan humour, these books tell the story of Ray Carney, a furniture salesman striving to provide a stable, respectable life for his wif…

Colson Whitehead discusses new novel ‘Cool Machine’ — Harvard Gazette

Photo by Chris Close Arts & Culture Ray Carney’s been selling used furniture in Harlem forever. It’s a useful front. Two-time Pulitzer winner Colson Whitehead discusses ‘Cool Machine,’ his new novel and final installment of trilogy Samantha Laine Perfas Harvard Staff Writer July 20, 2026 8 min read Colson Whitehead made history as the first novelist to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction fo…

Colson Whitehead Keeps Subverting Expectations

‘Cool Machine,’ the final book in Colson Whitehead’s ‘Harlem Trilogy,’ is both enjoyable crime fiction and an ode to Black ingenuity, writes Niela Orr.

If you haven’t read double-Pulitzer winner Colson Whitehead, start with these books

With his new novel "Cool Machine" out now, revisit how Colson Whitehead evolved from an avant-garde stylist into a bestselling, genre-defying novelist. Here is your essential reading cheat sheet.

Book review of Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead

Like a criminal landing the ultimate score, Colson Whitehead rounds out his Harlem Trilogy with another urban masterpiece, Cool Machine.