Dropping words like “gadabout” and “pulchritude” to set the mood, Denis Johnson brings the daily grind and grit of early twentieth century life in rural
Idaho into sharp focus in this miniature masterpiece. Bob Grainier is a regular guy who doesn't know where or when he was born. He does know how to lay railroad track and choke trees, and he knows when he's been cursed. For all its realism, “Train Dreams” does a fine job walking the fine line between what we know and what we might know. It's a veritable conflagration of brilliance.
