Paris Trout (novel)
First edition | |
| Author | Pete Dexter |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published | 1988 |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 306[1] |
Paris Trout is a 1988 American novel written by Pete Dexter.[1] It was the winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.[2]
The novel was adapted into a TV film of the same name.[3]
Plot
In a small Georgia town in the 1950s, a bigoted store owner named Paris Trout kills a black man's younger sister and wounds his mother when a car deal between them goes wrong.
Critical reception
The Los Angeles Times called the novel "a masterpiece, complex and breath-taking."[4]
When the novel was published, humorist and author Roy Blount Jr. provided a blurb for its promotion, writing, "I put it down once to wipe off the sweat,” a remark that has since been cited by other writers as a notably memorable piece of praise including in 2007 when a New York Times writer asked, “Do they give awards for this kind of thing?”[5]
References
- ^ a b Mason, Deborah (July 24, 1988). "UNEXAMINED LIVES IN COTTON POINT". The New York Times.
- ^ "National Book Awards – 1988". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
- ^ O'Connor, John J. (April 19, 1991). "TV Weekend; The Evil That Can't Be Buried, in 'Paris Trout'". The New York Times.
- ^ "A Perfect Right to Break the Law : PARIS TROUT: by Pete Dexter (Random House: $17.95; 304 pp.)". Los Angeles Times. July 24, 1988.
- ^ Blount, Roy Jr. (June 26, 2007). "Dexter and the Bear". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2025.