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Summary: --
Review: Paris Trout is a finely wrought and masterfully crafted book. Mr. Dexter leads us, knowingly, to places that we don't want to visit. This book is as raw as it gets. Paris Trout walks the line between slow methodical terror and pure rage. Simple and understated writing, full of grace and fear. From the very beginning one feels that something is tied and taught, and waiting for the perfect moment to snap.
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Summary: A Thrilling Read
Review: Paris Trout is a man who sees his life deteriorate after murdering a young black girl in the South. The book swells with suspense, characterization, believable dialogue, and yes, even a sexual moment or two. Good literature with the bleak ending and all. Don't hesitate to read this book.
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Summary: SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
Review: Paris Trout is about a murder of a young black girl, the utter of absence of morals in the killer, and the hypocrisy of a white town which almost doesn't want justice to be done to him. Set in an inbred town in Georgia, Paris Trout is a shopkeeper who has his hands in a lots of other business, such as loan sharking and auto sales. He sells a car to a young black man, Henry McNutt, vastly escalating the sale by adding "insurance" to it. After Henry becomes involved in a car wreck, he comes to Trout demanding that it be fixed because the accident was covered by his insurance. In the following dispute, Henry leaves the car and says he's not going to pay on the car anymore. After repeated warnings to pay, Paris Trout shows up at the McNutt residence with a former cop that had been kicked off the force for abusing black citizens. Not finding Henry there, they proceed to get involved in a situation with his mother and her children. Guns are drawn by Paris and the ex-officer and Henry's mother and a young girl living with the family are shot. The rest of the novel is about the aftermath of the killing, in which Paris believes he was justified because he was owed money.Harry Seagraves, a lawyer who recognizes Paris' guilt, but feels he is obligated to the decadent aristocracy of the town, decides to take over Paris' defense. Everyone in the town knows Paris is guilty, but are reluctant to see a white man go down for the killing of a black girl. The question is, will the town overcome its inherent racism and see justice done? Ward Townes, an honest county attorney takes over the prosecution. This was a good novel. It really exposes what many people already knew about certain parts of the South. You basically had some good people who knew about injustices being done to the blacks but were so ingrained with racial biases that they couldn't see blacks as equals. A murder could be bought and paid for and even lynchings could be done and noone searched that hard for the killers. This book reminded me of Crime and Punishment, in that even people without consciences can be haunted and driven mad by their crime. I did feel the closing parts of the book were not executed very well. This book won the National Book Award and should appeal to anyone that enjoys all the lawyer shows on TV at the moment like Law and Order.
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Summary: A fascinating novel about one man's morals
Review: 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.
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Summary: Great book for those who love the South-strength & weakness
Review: Paris Trout pulls you in - to both the town and the characters. A great book because there is one true evil character but even the "good" characters are flawed.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for those who love the South-strength & weakness
Review: Paris Trout pulls you in - to both the town and the characters. A great book because there is one true evil character but even the "good" characters are flawed.
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Summary: A Talented Writer, A Disturbing Tale
Review: Pete Dexter is clearly a gifted writer, and his talents are on full display in Paris Trout. His character development is rich and complex, and the reader gets to know each of the book's figures with intimate familiarity. The book is gripping but I found the ending unsatisfying. Without ruining it for those who haven't read it, I just felt that after so much tragedy and bloodshed by the evil Trout, I thought the heroes deserved a better fate. But perhaps that is Dexter's point -- things do not always have a happy ending in the real, unforgiving world.
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Summary: Awfully disturbing
Review: Sorry, but while Paris Trout may have been well written, realistic characterization, etc., I must say it had one of the most gruesome scenes of cruelty I've ever had the misfortune to read. It's been several years now and it still makes my stomach turn to think of it. So fair warning to all who may be contemplating reading this book. I wish I hadn't.
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Summary: A dark tale, well written
Review: The tale is nasty, but the writing is good. I read this book very quickly - I was pulled in by the characters and their actions. Paris Trout is scary; those who do little to stop him are also scary. I don't like how Dexter treats the women in his books - horrific is the word that comes to mind. Definitely worth reading if you are in the mood for something very dark.
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Summary: A chilling tale of racism, murder and hypocracy
Review: 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.
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