{"product_id":"the-sleeping-car-porter-9781552454589","title":"The Sleeping Car Porter","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWINNER OF THE 2022 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE CITY OF CALGARY W.O. MITCHELL BOOK PRIZE\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE 2023 GEORGES BUGNET AWARD FOR FICTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFINALIST FOR THE 2023 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FICTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 20 LITERARY FICTION BOOKS OF 2022\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOPRAH DAILY: BOOKS TO READ BY THE FIRE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCBC BOOKS: THE BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2022\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 REPUBLIC OF CONSCIOUSNESS PRIZE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhen a mudslide strands a train, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, must contend with the perils of white passengers, ghosts, and his secret love affair\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sleeping Car Porter\u003c\/em\u003e brings to life an important part of Black history in North America, from the perspective of a queer man living in a culture that renders him invisible in two ways. Affecting, imaginative, and visceral enough that you'll feel the rocking of the train, \u003cem\u003eThe Sleeping Car Porter\u003c\/em\u003e is a stunning accomplishment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eBaxter's name isn't George. But it's 1929, and Baxter is lucky enough, as a Black man, to have a job as a sleeping car porter on a train that crisscrosses the country. So when the passengers call him George, he has to just smile and nod and act invisible. What he really wants is to go to dentistry school, but he'll have to save up a lot of nickel and dime tips to get there, so he puts up with \"George.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn this particular trip out west, the passengers are more unruly than usual, especially when the train is stalled for two extra days; their secrets start to leak out and blur with the sleep-deprivation hallucinations Baxter is having. When he finds a naughty postcard of two queer men, Baxter's memories and longings are reawakened; keeping it puts his job in peril, but he can't part with the postcard or his thoughts of Edwin Drew, Porter Instructor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Suzette Mayr's \u003cem\u003eThe Sleeping Car Porter\u003c\/em\u003e offers a richly detailed account of a particular occupation and time--train porter on a Canadian passenger train in 1929--and unforcedly allows it to illuminate the societal strictures imposed on black men at the time--and today. Baxter is a secretly-queer and sleep-deprived porter saving up for dental school, working a system that periodically assigns unexplained demerits, and once a certain threshold is reached, the porter loses his job. Thus, success is impossible, the best one can do is to fail slowly. As Baxter takes a cross-continental run, the boarding passengers have more secrets than an Agatha Christie cast, creating a powder keg on train tracks. \u003cem\u003eThe Sleeping Car Porter\u003c\/em\u003e is an engaging and illuminating novel about the costs of work, service, and secrets.\" - Keith Mosman, \u003cstrong\u003ePowell's Books\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I thought \u003cem\u003eThe Sleeping Car Porter\u003c\/em\u003e was fantastic! It strikes a balance between being about the struggles of being black and gay at that time while not being too heavy handed with it. I enjoyed his constant mental math on how many demerits he might receive for each infraction. The reader really gets a sense of the conflict that Baxter is going through. I really liked reading a book from the perspective of a porter.\" - Hunter Gillum, \u003cstrong\u003eBeaverdale Books\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Coach House Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50615635640594,"sku":"9781552454589","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0806cd4a-4993-463b-b3e9-002807b79c80.jpg?v=1732497154","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-sleeping-car-porter-9781552454589","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}