James Hoggard

Set in north Texas, and the Southwest in general, this coming-of-age novel pits a protagonist with a traditional, rural background, against the "sophistication" of Dallas in the late 1960s. The title character, Trotter, falls for a woman about to be married, and must deal with that rejection. He takes to the road to discover himself, and to discover the mysteries of sex -- in some very finely crafted literary love scenes. The precision of Hoggard's writing extends beyond the bedroom to the high plains of Texas and the mountains of New Mexico, with exquisite, poetic landscape descriptions. The novel takes on a mythic tone, making it comparable to the very best American coming-of-age novels.