Flipping Boxcars
A Novel
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
The first novel from one of the original Kings of Comedy, Cedric “The Entertainer,” an engaging and entertaining crime caper that is a valentine to close-knit black families and tightly woven communities struggling to get by during the Depression and World War II.
Babe is a charismatic and widely loved man, a gambler with a gift for gab that often gets him out of tricky situations. He’s also a dreamer, something he shares with his patient and loving wife, Rosie. They both yearn for financial stability and see the land they own as insurance for future generations. But when Babe and a few comrades enlist in a scheme that improbably falls apart, he endangers the little security the family has.
On the verge of losing everything, what’s a family man to do?
If you’re a gambler like Babe, you double down and risk it all for one big score—this time, a plan involving railroad boxcars.
Will Babe succeed? Will Rosie continue to support her husband? Are the Feds on to his make-or-break scheme?
Flipping Boxcars is Cedric “The Entertainer” at his most engaging best—a charming, fast-paced novel that pays homage to his beloved grandfather and a generation past, anchored by rich, multi-dimensional characters and oozing with irresistible charm.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
For his debut novel, comedian Cedric the Entertainer combines a thrilling caper with a fun buddy story. In 1948 Missouri, all-around hustler Floyd “Babe” Boyce and his friend Karter try to raise the cash to buy a whole boxcar’s worth of bootleg whiskey from a Chicago gangster. But the plan fails and they lose that bid—along with Babe’s family farm. Now, the two will have to raise the stakes and try to pull off a heist to save the day. Inspired by Cedric’s own grandfather, Babe is a big, colorful character whose adventures are full of action and humor, and the whole novel is a loving portrait of 1940s Southern Black family life. Flipping Boxcars will leave a smile on your face.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The promising fiction debut from comedian Cedric "the Entertainer" Kyles (Grown-A$$ Man) chronicles family man and community fixer Floyd "Babe" Boyce's bootlegging operations in post-WWII Caruthersville, Mo. In 1948, Babe and his partner in crime, Karter (whose life Babe saved in the war), commit to a deal with Tommy Wojak, who heads the Polish arm of a Chicago crime syndicate. The pair has 72 hours to raise $54,000 to buy 3,000 cases of untaxed bourbon arriving by railroad from Canada. An expert gambler, Babe banks on his ability to read cards, dice, and people to hopefully win the cash from the bustling Sportsman Hall casino. His plans are derailed, though, when he suffers a shock defeat at the craps table after an all-night hot streak convinces him to make a hefty bet, and loses his savings along with the deeds to farmland his wife has purchased. To salvage his marriage and his children's futures, Babe enlists the help of an enterprising army friend to pull off an audacious train robbery. Despite an underbaked subplot involving Ku Klux Klan attacks in Caruthersville, Kyles and Eisenstock deliver stirring gambling scenes, strong characterizations, and vivid prose. The result is an energetic caper that's more than meets the eye. Agents: (for Kyles) Anthony Mattero, CAA; (for Eisenstock) Eric Rhone, A Bird and a Bear.
