Chevrolet summers, Dairy Queen nights

With the color and richness of a novel, Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights leads us across the country to chronicle the people, places, and passions at its secret heart.

Greene tells the stories that don't make the headlines - funny, gripping, warm, chilling, sentimental, exhilarating. A small-town cop saves a child's life by double-checking, on a hunch, a closed case of suspected abuse. Frank Sinatra, on his last concert tour, shares off-the-cuff wisdom about fame, craft, and shifting fortunes. The Mall of America, on the Minnesota plains, stands as a surreal symbol of our nation at its best and worst.

An impoverished father gives his son the best trip he can - on the free trains out to Atlanta's airport boarding gates.