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The Sleeping Car Porter
- Narrated by: Chris McPherson
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
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The Sleeping Car Porter
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Book review
- By Justine Kennedy on 2023-01-16
Written by: Suzette Mayr
Publisher's Summary
WINNER OF THE 2022 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 20 LITERARY FICTION BOOKS OF 2022
OPRAH DAILY: BOOKS TO READ BY THE FIRE
THE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022
CBC BOOKS: THE BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2022
When 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
The Sleeping Car Porter 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, The Sleeping Car Porter is a stunning accomplishment.
Baxter’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.”
On 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.
“Suzette Mayr’s The Sleeping Car Porter 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. The Sleeping Car Porter is an engaging and illuminating novel about the costs of work, service, and secrets.”—Keith Mosman, Powell’s Books
“I thought The Sleeping Car Porter 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, Beaverdale Books
What the critics say
“Mayr’s prose is vivid but never overwrought, capturing the surrealism of intense fatigue in constant motion … Readers will be captivated.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“In 1929, being a passenger train porter was fraught with challenges ... Baxter’s own sleep deprivation is perhaps the most intriguing character of the book. It leads to hallucinations, questionable decisions, and borderline supernatural suggestions.”—Kirkus Reviews
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Laura
- 2023-07-03
Good story
it seemed touching and detailed like an old fashioned story with a lot of sweetness. I agree with another reviewer that the sex part was unpleasant though.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- I Will Try Anything Once
- 2022-12-01
This Prize Winner is worth the effort!
Great performance. I was thrilled that this audiobook was available when the physical book waiting list was deep. Mayr's thorough research and interesting attributions (outlined at the end) led to a well-deserved Giller Prize. McPherson's narration was superbly acted. I was very pleased with this title and I congratulate Ms. Mayr on her success!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- kate lafferty
- 2023-04-01
Didn't need the sex part thanks.
I was looking forward to this book, partly but not only because of the awards, but because it would be interesting to hear the perspective of the porters.
It is very slow... the train would be travelling along so I get it. I did not expect the gay sex components. some might enjoy it bit that doesn't interest me. Giving up before completing it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-02-21
A thrilling voyage
I’ve always loved a train trip and this one didn’t disappoint! Amazing research laid the groundwork for Mayr’s portrayal of Baxter, giving us a glimpse into his life and the maddening conditions for Black porters in general! Loved her way of reducing passengers to words like Mango, Spider, Pulp & Paper. Genius! Excellently brought to life by McPherson.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer S.
- 2023-07-21
Interesting subject matter but a bit slow
The subject matter of the black porters in the early 1900s was interesting. Certainly a gruelling lifestyle. But it was a bit slow moving, and hard to feel engaged with any of the characters other than the main one.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lookingtoget
- 2024-01-07
amazing
I love this book the characters really come to life and jump off the page it's phenomenal.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Claire
- 2022-11-12
Distorted sound - could not endure
Was so excited for this one however the sound is completely distorted in the recording. I'm returning the audible book but sincerely hope it gets fixed. Will prob buy book instead.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- karencanada
- 2023-03-09
Narration for the win
I really enjoyed the narrators style and pacing along with his great voice. The story itself was ok, but the narrator brought it to life. The book feels like it was born of research, rather than things occurring the other way around, and is well written.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Daphnee
- 2023-01-26
Thoroughly researched story, exceptional narrator
I thought the narrator was extraordinary and really gave a voice to the main protagonist. I do wish I had read more about the history of sleeping car porters prior to listening as some of the references only made sense in hindsight. I learned a lot about this important part of Canadian history, thanks to this book.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-02-22
A slog to the end
I really felt excited at the start of this book but very quickly this story comes to slow grind. For me it not only is so sparse when it comes to the plot but it double fails as an intriguing character study. Beautiful prose is met with a crushingly boring story despite being set in such a compelling and interesting time in history.
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