Point of View

The stories in the middle section of the book, “Father Abe,” “The Moaning Bench,” “The Christmas Dance,” and “The Fish Man Angel” are told in third person. Of these, all are told in third person omniscient except “The Christmas Dance,” which is told in third person limited, meaning the reader is only given access to Herb Melton's thoughts and feelings. The three other stories, “The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set,” “The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band,” and “Mr. P & the Wind” are told in first person by some very charismatic narrators.

“The Under Graham Railroad” is narrated by Leo Banskoff, a toy collector seeking to purchase a valuable Civil War-era train from the Harts, a devoutly religious African American couple. Through Leo's narration, the author demonstrates that, though he may be a shrewd businessman, Leo is ignorant when it comes to racial sensitivity, the...