Customer Reviews

Paris Trout (Contemporary American Fiction)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There is no question that Dexter is a wonderful wordsmith. He knows how to arrange language for the effects he wants. What makes this book much better than just a well written, literate story of racism and murder, however, is the vivid picture Dexter draws of the main character, Paris Trout, and the townspeople who tolerate him. Trout is a sociopath who inspires fear in all those around him. His brutal and selfish actions, however much despised by his peers, are tolerated rather than confronted. The portrait of his wife - equally vivid - is a sobering and sad picture of someone struggling to make a stand for herself. Much of the tension in the book comes from the relative inarticulateness of the characters and the sense of something horrible underlying the action.

This book is a step up from most sterotypical stories of redneck racists in small Southern towns. Dexter writes with the authority of someone who knows the place, knows the language and knows these people. When finished with the book, the reader feels that he knows them too. A reading experience that's hard to forget.

The National Book Award Winner from 1988, _Paris Trout_, based on a real murder and subsequent trial in Milledgeville, Georgia, is a tale of racism, abuse, bribery, injustice, and most of all, arrogance. Paris Trout, a white shopkeeper in Cotton Point, Georgia, makes his own rules, paying little attention to other laws as he sells used cars (on which the rust is hidden under new paint), terrorizes the black community into repaying loans with high interest, and uses trickery to avoid claims on the insurance policies he sells.

When the older brother of 14-year-old Rosie Sayers refuses to pay for a damaged car that Trout has sold and insured but will not fix, Trout and an accomplice decide to use him as an object lesson. Going to Henry Ray's home, Trout shoots little sister Rosie to death and leaves Mary McNutt wounded with four bullets. Surprisingly to Trout, he is put on trial, where people are bribed and the outcome is uncertain, despite eyewitnesses. The crime and trial take up the first half of the book, while the effects of the trial on Trout's defense attorney, Harry Seagraves, the increasing madness of Trout, and the town's growing impatience with Trout's behavior occupy the second half.

Dexter manages to give new life to a story of bigotry which has been told many times, creating in Rosie a particularly vulnerable and sad child, and in Harry Seagraves a lawyer who faces a crossroads--as a lawyer, husband, and man. Paris Trout, however, remains a bigoted stereotype, which reduces important aspects of the plot to "good guys" vs. "bad guys." Dexter's earthy tone creates an atmosphere that vibrates with emotion, however, and his brilliant selection of revealing details create innumerable symbols that develop the themes, poison being the most obvious symbol--Rosie's poisoning by a rabid fox, Hanna Trout's poisoning by physical and sexual abuse, and the town's poisoning by Trout's attitudes.

Dramatic, bloody, and horrifying, this novel shines a spotlight on a town which resembles a large snake that has been run over and is now "stuck to the highway with her own gum." As the town begins to free itself from Paris Trout, his power, and the attitudes he represents, the reader knows that Trout, too, is only a symbol, that real change will take generations. Mary Whipple

In the mood for a nice little murder story? Well, don't look here. This tale of murder is as bad as they come; there is no subtlety, no ironically cute plot twists. Author Pete Dexter takes readers by their hands and whispers, "Come follow me if you have the courage, and I will show you the depravity of man." This brutal, unblinking honesty has become Dexter's trademark, and few writers can match his skill. "Paris Trout" is a novel readers will have a hard time walking away from once they've finished the last sentence. Dexter's prose is so powerful that audiences may catch themselves actually feeling sorry for Trout, the story's main character. Few times in fiction has a character been so convinced of his own righteousness, so obsessed with his own cause, while he sets out to destroy all those who have betrayed him.

I've yet to see the movie, but I'm glad I read the book first. Few lifelike characters have ever been written that compare to Paris Trout. Just thinking of the words Mineral Bottle give me a shiver, although they give two of the book's characters shivers of another kind(one good, one bad). Anyway, if you like small town doin's and murder cases, this is for you. The sex scenes were tedious to get through, mainly because they were in the same grimacing prose as the rest of the novel. If those scenes had been left out, the book would be just as good.

Paris Trout is one of the most unique characters I've come across in quite some time. He appears to have his own sense of right and wrong, which are - to put it mildly - quite separate and apart from that experienced by the rest of the citizenry of Cotton Point, GA (not to mention the majority of the people in the country).

It is this unusual sense of morality (I'm not sure it can be called perverted, offbeat, or any other similar term) that leads to his shooting of a young African-American girl. And it is that circumstance, and the resulting trial, that causes the gradual emotional disintegration of not only Paris Trout, but of many of the other main characters of Pete Dexter's unbelievably good tale.

Trout's wife, Hanna, could probably be considered a battered wife. I'm not entirely sure - Trout does strike her, and the psychological abuse is certainly there, but Hanna has enough gumption to fight back (emotionally speaking), and to throw Trout out of his own house and begin divorce proceedings against him. Perhaps if this story had taken place several years later, Hanna would simply be a doormat - a Hedda Nussbaum clone. But given the ultimate resolution of this story we'll never know that for certain.

Without trying to give that resolution away, I wish that Dexter would write a sequel of sorts. I would like to see Hanna five, or even ten years later and see what kind of a person she has become. There are far too many Paris Trouts in the world, and it would be a comfort to know that their control over their victims is not absolute.

Paris Trout runs a general store in Cottonwood Point, GA. He's a racist but, more than that, he's violently paranoid and increasingly obsessed with his own fingernail clippings and urine. When a young black man buys a car from him on credit, supposedly purchasing insurance with it, and gets into an accident, Trout won't repair the car and won't let him off the hook for payments, telling him he didn't buy that kind of insurance. This leads to blood, but the victims are female members of the young man's family. Trout feels entirely justified in his actions and more than a few townspeople see things his way -- after all, a man has a right to collect his debts.

The novel follows Harry Seagraves, the best lawyer in town, as he prepares Trout's defense and during the trial and its aftermath. Seagraves takes a particular (not entirely professional) interest in Trout's wife, who is rather horrifically abused by Trout. Other notable characters include a young lawyer, Carl Bonner, the youngest Eagle Scout in Cottonwood Point's history, who tries to help Trout's wife; and Bonner's wife, who is frustrated that her husband has become such a stick-in-the-mud.

The dark humor in this novel alternates with a chilling depiction of southern racism and Trout's madness, and the characters are unforgettable. This isn't a simple-minded examination of contrived racism as some of the reviews at this site might suggest. The complex relationship between Trout and the townspeople -- they don't want to be associated with racism that's quite so overt, yet they don't want to upset such a wealthy and powerful (not to mention violent) citizen -- is deftly portrayed. Except for the clearly innocent victims, nobody gets off easily as Dexter examines the town's dynamic. This is a chilling and powerful work by a careful, evocative writer.

I don't happen to like everything Dexter writes, but, here, he demonstrates a superior knowledge of the writing art. Few characters are drawn more deftly and powerfully than Paris Trout. When all is said and done, the reader feels almost like he knows Trout personally, though he may wish he didn't. This is truly an original novel which is one reason I suspect it won the national book award. Perhaps some feel that racism is a worn-out topic. Well, not the way Dexter handles it. A well written novel.

I grew up in Milledgeville, Ga (Cotton Point?) and remember the killing of the 2 lawyers. As an 11 year old child, I was spared the more sinister details of the real life story. I believe that Pete Dexter attended elementary school in Milledgeville at the time this crime took place. As an author he did his homework, then twisted the tale just enough to leave me gasping!

When this book came out I was in high school and I thought, that's all we need, yet another book about racism and a small southern town..I mean how many books can be written on this subject? I recently sat down and read this book, it's quite a page turner, but still it's a one trick pony..on part Harper Lee, two parts John Grisham. Granted, Paris Trout, is a racist monster, conjured up from Redneck Hell, but he is a total caracture, it's like the author read To Kill a Mockingbird and said, I'm going to make my cracker worse, and to his credit, he suceeded, Paris Trout is one of the most vile, base characters i've read in fiction, but in making him so totally vile, he's not as effective. I just felt the book treaded over well worn road, yes we know people were and are like this..I grew up in Texas, I'm very familiar with the genus Redneckus Southernus, but I dont exactly enjoy reading about it..again and again and again...this book won several awards, and frankly I dont understand why..its not a bad book, but it's hardly, To Kill a Mockingbird, and frankly I like A Time to Kill better..read this if you must..but only if you must.

One of the best contemporary American fiction books I've read in a while. Powerful and suspenseful ... I had to put it down once or twice because Dexter's descriptions are so graphically vivid. For this reason, it isn't for the faint of heart.

A made-for-cable film adaption was done several years ago with Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Harris. Worth checking out.