SITTING IN THE CLUB CAR DRINKING RUM AND KARMAKOLA. Jiles, Paulette. Winlaw (B.C.), Polestar Press, c1986, 105pp, paper, $9.95, ISBN 0-919591-13-2. CIP Grades 12 and up Reviewed by James Kingstone Volume 15 Number 3 1987 May A quirky insight into train travel in this country, an occasionally elegant and poetic prose style, and characterization and dialogue that keep the reader wondering where have I seen this before (in the movies perhaps?), recommend Sitting in the Club Car to an older reader. Young readers may simply be puzzled; the episodic structure is too thin to sustain some of the less casual moments in the book. Sub-titled A Manual of Etiquette for Ladies Crossing Canada by Train. the book is also a spoof on detective thrillers whose hard-boiled qualities fade in the final pages when the private eye loses his heart to the flaky blonde. There are some entertaining vignettes, but much of this short work suffers from a kind of self-conscious cuteness, a trend in this country's literature that seems to be gaining currency. James Kingstone, Peterborough, Ont.