Talking Volumes: Colson Whitehead puts his Harlem Trilogy series on ice with 'Cool Machine'
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Colson Whitehead defies definition. The two-time Pulitzer-Prize winner writes across genres, using everything from zombie thrillers to magical realism to explore America's complicated history with race.
His newest novel, “Cool Machine,” is the conclusion to his Harlem Trilogy, which follows Ray Carney — part furniture salesman, part dealer in stolen goods — as he hustles and improvises and compartmentalizes his way through the criminal underworld in New York City from 1959 to 1986.
He talked about that series — and the many other books he’s written — at the final Talking Volumes of the 2026 season. Colson joined host Catharine Richert on stage at the O’Shaughnessy Theater in St. Paul on Nov. 11 and instantly charmed the delighted crowd.
Besides Ray Carney, he and Richert discussed why New York City features so prominently in his novels, what it means to write a trilogy (“it’s a lot of words”) and if he ever tried to use AI to help him out of stuck place. (Spoiler: He did, and it did not go well.)
Chastity Brown also defies definition. The Minneapolis powerhouse’s blend of folk and soul music was the perfect musical accompaniment to the evening.
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