cover image Paris Trout

Paris Trout

Pete Dexter. Penguin Books, $15 (306pp) ISBN 978-0-14-012206-0

In what PW described as ``an expertly crafted and bleakly fascinating tale of social conflict and madness in the deep South,'' the eponymous protagonist of this National Book Award-winning novel murders a black child while collecting a debt and is astounded that he is prosecuted for the crime. 50,000 first printing . (Aug.)