The Sleeping Car Porter is set on a transcontinental train from Montreal to Vancouver in 1929, featuring Baxter, a sleeping car porter. Like other Black porters, he faces discrimination on both a macro and micro level throughout his daily life. Unlike many others, he is an avid reader of science fiction, has a goal of attending dentistry school, and is gay. All of these facets of his personality and experience feature into the book, as Baxter deals with the various occupants of his sleeper car, a cast of characters who are by turns amusing, sympathetic, foolish, and insufferable, all while enduring waking hallucinations through an appalling lack of sleep (this one run is scheduled for 88 hours) and insufficient food. I really loved the glimpse into his life and seeing his external words and actions juxtaposed against his internal thoughts.