In the 1970s and 1980s, before he earned national acclaim for his award-winning novels, Pete Dexter was a newspaper columnist. Every week, in a few hundred words, Dexter cut directly to the heart of the American character at a time of national turmoil and crucial change. With haunting urgency, his columns laid bare the violence, hypocrisy, and desperation he saw on the streets of Philadelphia and in the places he visited across the country. But he reveled, too, in the lighter side of his own life, sharing scenes with the indefatigable Mrs. Dexter, their young daughter, and a series of unforgettable creatures who strayed into their lives. No matter what caught Dexter's eye, it was illuminated by his dark, brilliant humor.

Collected here for the first time are eighty-two of the best of those spellbinding, finely wrought pieces—with a new introduction by the author—assembled by Rob Fleder, editor of the bestselling Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Book. Paper Trails is searing, heart-breaking, and irresistibly funny, sometimes all at once. As Pete Hamill says in his foreword, these essays "are as good as it ever gets."

only one complaint- the SOB needs to stop editing and give us all of it. he weeded through, he says, mountains of stuff to make this selection. he selected what i guess was his best. i don't care. my heart cries. he's cheating us. his worst surely blows the doors off of anyone else's writing. i want the stuff that for some writerly motive wasn't good enough for him. it'll be good enough for me. i love this guy. when i grow up (i'm 41) i want to BE him, without the punches. i read more than you do, most likely. and he is without a doubt my favorite writer, bar none. reading this book is like eating one potato chip. i'm lucky- i discovered dexter late (thanks to that HBO travesty, it should be noted) and thus could gobble his other novels without waiting. but his output does not satisfy my craving. sean@seandix.com

PAPER TRAILS is a collection of essays. Some are hilarious, some are sad, some are outrageous, and all of them are thought provoking. The essays cover a wide range of subjects, from kittens to tractors to mentrual pads to evil boys who abuse dogs. There's something in the book for every taste. The writing is sublime.

It's a page flipper and difficult to put down.

I remember Pete from his time at the Philadelphia Daily News. It truly was a different era. We still have columnists, but Pete was something special. Many of the columns collected here have the power to break your heart. Those that do not will make you laugh, or perhaps think. If you suppose that you can peg Dexter as a typical left wing demagogue then you must read his thoughts on the LA riots, and O.J. Simpson. This is a man who is dedicated to the notion of equality, and will brook no excuses for bad behavior. This book is like eating popcorn if you were eating popcorn that was extremely filling and had super nutritive qualities.

Boy is Pete Dexter a good writer. This collection of his columns from, among others, the Sacramento Bee and the Philadelphia Inquirer are occasionally a little dark, but never boring, and cover a wide array of subjects. If you've never read Pete Dexter, you should, and this is a good way to get your feet wet; that being said, his novels are not to be missed.

Dexter's stories about life in America may be the most inciteful observations being written today. Spellbinding prose.