Harlem, 1970s

The novel takes place entirely within the borough of Harlem in the 1970s, and this backdrop is deeply significant to the novel's reckoning with race, class, and community. Harlem, long a stronghold for Black art and Black culture, suffered a series of upheavals in the 1970s as the Black Liberation Movement rose to prominence and the infrastructure of the borough (both bureaucratic and physical) began to break down due to white neglect. As such, the world of rampant criminality that functions as the crucible in which Carney moves throughout the novel is directly attached to this setting—as, too, is Carney's fierce and unwavering pride in his neighborhood even as it slips into corruption and dysfunction.

Carney's Furniture

The furniture store that Carney operates is a significant setting throughout the novel in part because it represents his attempt to abandon his criminal lifestyle and live straight. The...