Crook Manifesto

“Churn. Carney’s word for the circulation of goods in his illicit sphere, the dance of TVs and diadems and toasters from one owner to the next, floating in and out of people’s lives on breezes and gusts of cash and criminal industry. But of course churn determined the straight world, too, memorialized the lives of neighborhoods, businesses. The movement of shop owners in and out of 383 West 125th Street, the changing entities on the deeds downtown in the hall of records, the minuet of brands on the showroom floor.”

This quote speaks to broader themes about the blurred line between crooked and straight. Ray uses the same metaphor to discuss both illicit and licit trade, suggesting that the laws that govern both worlds are the same, and that no system is either inherently within or without the bounds of the law.

“From the signs and stores, this stretch of Broadway had grown more Puerto Rican and Dominican since his last visit. On 125th, it was Jews and Italians out, Blacks in, and up here the Spanish replaced the Germans and Irish when they split. Churn, baby, churn.”

This quotation speaks to the novel’s thematic interest in the changing landscape of Harlem in particular, and New York City in general. Ray’s store had originally been owned by an Italian landlord who had purchased the property from a Jewish man. When each ethnic group moves out of the city, another becomes dominant within the neighborhood. Harlem is an area in constant flux. The repetition of the word churn here equates the constant movement and reshuffling of people and communities with that of goods in the underground economy.

“‘Bent hates straight, Carney. Putting on airs. You think you’re better than me?’ The detective shrugged. ‘Only a matter of time before someone tried to clip him.’”

In this quote, Munson speaks to Carney, alleging that no one is solely crooked or straight, good or bad. Those who are more crooked than straight at least understand reality better, for they realize that everyone has the capacity to act outside the bounds of the law. Munson alleges that since no one is truly on the straight and narrow, those who think that they are fooling themselves.