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Train is an 18-year-old black caddy at an exclusive L.A. country club. He is a golf prodigy, but the year is 1953 and there is no such thing as a black golf prodigy. Nevertheless, Train draws the interest of Miller Packard, a gambler whose smiling, distracted air earned him the nickname "the Mile Away Man." Packard's easy manner hides a proclivity for violence, and he remains an enigma to Train even months later when they are winning high stakes matches against hustlers throughout the country. Packard is also drawn to Norah Still, a beautiful woman scarred in a hideous crime, a woman who finds Packard's tendency toward violence both alluring and frightening. In the ensuing triangular relationship kindness is never far from cruelty. In Train, National Book Award-winning Pete Dexter creates a startling, irresistibly readable book that crackles with suspense and the live-wire voices of its characters.… (more)
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This is a book about racial prejudice and segregation in Southern California after the War. The blurb on the back cover is true: Pete Dexter's writing cuts to the bone. There are no holds barred here. Packard takes justice into his own hands - good thing too, because it's one of the few areas where he can exercise judgment. Packard, called "Miles Away Man" by Train, is finally snapped back into the human race when after a tumultuous argument with his wife, she shoots his lower leg with a shotgun, after which he finally shows emotion and breaks down into tears.
"Train" is hard-edged, honest, and deft at the same time. Dexter is a virtuoso. Pick this up and read it - I assure you you won't regret it.
Train is one of those novels that stay with you long after you have turned the last page.
It's hard for me to write about whats in the book, because I don't want to give it away. I recommend that you read this!