John Sayles's second novel [Union Dues] is a story of flight and search….

The omniscient narration moves back and forth between the two protagonists' "searches." But several scenes are shown from the viewpoints of peripheral characters—who are about to meet up with Hunter or Hobie [the protagonists]…. [The] writer's ability to hear the way real people talk (also evident in Sayles's gritty first novel, Pride of the Bimbos) imparts a very special conviction to scenes involving mine- or factory-workers. There's a wonderful set-piece in a Boston saloon, where cronies rattle on about "pure, above-bawd patronage politics," and a lugubrious barfly mourns the passing of "poor Joe" (Kennedy). Sayles packs the book with irreverent, combative, funny and dirty songs and stories, as well as a flinty-eyed affection for the people who love to spout them.

The only real flaws show in Third Way's interminable "conferences." As Hobie observes...