This image is the cover for the book Rock Island Line

Rock Island Line

“An authentically great American novel” that follows a young man’s descent into darkness after a tragic loss, and his struggle to find renewal (Booklist, starred review).

Raised in an idyllic Iowa town, young July Montgomery is rocked by the tragic death of his parents. Fleeing to Philadelphia, he fashions a ghostly existence in an underground train station. When a young woman appears to free him from his malaise, they return together to the Iowa heartland, where the novel soars to its heartrending climax. First published to enormous acclaim in 1975, Rock Island Line brings David Rhodes’s striking characterizations and unparalleled eye for the telling detail to this tale of paradise lost—and possibly regained.

“Beautiful and haunting . . . I read the book when it first came out over thirty years ago and it has lived in both my heart and head ever since.” —Jonathan Carroll, author of Teaching the Dog to Read

David Rhodes

As a young man, David Rhodes worked in fields, hospitals, and factories across Iowa. After receiving an MFA in Writing from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop in 1971, he published three novels in rapid succession: The Last Fair Deal Going Down (Atlantic/Little, Brown, 1972), The Easter House (Harper & Row, 1974), and Rock Island Line (Harper & Row, 1975). A motorcycle accident in 1976 left him paralyzed from the waist down, since which time he continued writing but stopped publishing. He lives with his wife, Edna, in Wonewoc, Wisconsin.

Perseus