
Colson Whitehead's latest literary honor feels very much at home.
The author's “Crook Manifesto,” a crime story set in 1970s Harlem and centered on a beleaguered furniture store owner, is this year's winner of the Gotham Book Prize for an outstanding work about New York City. The $50,000 award was established four years ago by bookstore owner-philanthropist Bradley Tusk and political strategist Howard Wolfson.