Product Description
American novelist, short story writer and essayist, Harry Crews, is the subject of this full, descriptive bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great idea, not so great book
still a good book, but not as good as crews' other books. still, it's one i'd recommend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

bizarre for the sake of being bizarre
It was an awful boring read ... I couldn't wait to be done with it. I would have given it one star but it was well crafted. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Author
Harry Crews is a great writer but, he is not 76 dollars worth of great.

nice and easy does it every time...
i was very satisfied with my purchase and the mirror like reflection between the product and the distributors description of the product.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Down for the count in New Orleans
Before the goodwill inspired by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans took its share of body blows in literature as a decadent, amoral pit - sometimes self-inflicted (think the vampires of Ann Rice), and sometimes from an outsider looking in.How much is factual and how much is exaggerated for the sake of any particular story, I don't know, as my own experience with the city is limited to just passing through.I'd guess its probably about the same as any other large city, though New Orleans' reputation may also attract certain elements who are looking for ringside seats to some action that's just not available anywhere else.

If ringside is a little too close, and you'd rather have a few insulating layers between you and the seamier side of 'The Big Easy', then Harry Crew's 'The Knockout Artist' may be one place to start.Plot particulars aside, this is the story of a young man in the process of being chewed up and spit out by a big city.Except that by the time this story takes place, our fighter, Eugene Biggs, is no longer a fresh faced farm boy from South Georgia, and has become a willing, yet disgusted, participant in the 'kink' he has to partake in to survive.Thankfully, Crews leaves the sordid details to the reader's imagination.What he does do, rather skillfully I thought, was to dance that fine line between too much objectionable material, and so little that the reader can't understand the character's motivations to escape it.In other words, what's there is necessary for the story, neither more nor less.

Nor is there too much psychological rambling in 'Knockout' either.Eugene Biggs is fully aware that he is completely surrounded by people who are smarter than he is, the only problem is that they are hopelessly entangled in their own destructive appetites and addictions, and Eugene has become not much more than an expensive party favor for their diversions.Like any other bad habit, Eugene's guilt, shame, remorse, and desire for a place to belong keeps him locked into behavior he'd just as well leave behind forever.

Self knowledge is a wonderful thing, and Crews likes it.What finally gives Eugene the power to break out of his trap is when he is confronted with an in depth psychological profile, authored without his knowledge.The result is like shock treatment.No longer content to let the stream of life take him where it will, and now able to leap over previously unscalable mental hurdles with a single bound, Eugene resolves to regain his emotional sobriety at any cost.

Crews writes in a plain style, like killer jabs and rabbit punches to the gut.Eugene Biggs may not be an educated man, but he can set it down the way he sees it, and it doesn't take a boxer to know the difference between a ten count on the canvas and refusing to step inside the ring at all.Crews gives us a wild ride through New Orleans and the mind of a sadder but wiser young man in "The Knockout Artist", but fails to ever deliver the big blow.Call it a T.K.O. and experience it for yourself.

Writing That Doesn't Back Down
Harry Crews pulls no punches.Often, when I'm reading other books, I get the impression that authors are censoring themselves, or that they aren't really staring life in the face and taking its account.With Harry Crews, I never get that impression.He writes loud and doesn't back down.And, as a result, the book's story goes exactly where it should, the characters become what they should, and everything falls remarkably into place.

This book doesn't seem to start with a clear vision, but because of the writing's drive, the coherency of the plot, and the moral struggles of the characters, the novel comes together and produces an excellent ending that fits the rest of the book like a glove.

I don't recommend this book to everyone.It's got a lot of vulgar language and vulgar topics.The characters' impressions of the world often made me uncomfortable.This is not a light read.Instead, this is a compelling read, something that will beat you across the head, and maybe knock you out.

wow
Crews is such a fine writer. Spare, Smart, Willing to look at people that others turn away from. His prose is on par with Jim Thompson or Chester Himes. It ain't pretty, but it is true and engaging.

Perhaps the best work of the great Harry Crews.
I am a huge Harry Crews fan.No one writes quite like this hyperrealistic gothic southern writer, and no one can create such bizarre characters in so few pages.Indeed, I have read "The Knockout Artist" several times, and always get something different out of it.As always, Crews concerns himself with the larger questions in life, especially how to maintain one's moral compass in a surreal amoral world (here its New Orleans), but he also creates characters as compelling as one can find in late 20th century fiction. You will root for the main character and never forget those that he meets along the way.

To address one of the other reviews, in Crews' world, it is hardly surprising that there are people who would pay handsomely to see someone knock himself unconscious.I am sure that in the underbelly of any major city, (which certainly would include New Orleans!) there are those who have desires far stranger than this.

I urge you to read this book.If you like it, run out and buy "A Feast of Snakes," which is just as good.

Over the top, yes, but for good reason.
Sometimes to satirize one must approach the extreme, venture into the unbelievable or explore the ridiculous. I'm sorry one of the reviewers failed to grasp this. The Knockout Artist is one of the finest pieces of fiction ever written by a contemporary American author. It grabs at the heartstrings and yanks them out of tune, then proceeds to play Mariachi in dropped D tuning.
I laughed, I cried,....
In seriousness, Harry Crews is going to be one of those authors who will be taught in college courses fifty years from now, well after he's dead and gone. We are fortunate to be living at the same time as a legend. ... Read more

Product Description
First SIGNED LIMITED Edition. 1/400 numbered copies. Fine in dj. Features Ralph Steadman's cover art. The sequel to "The Gospel Singer." SIGNED BY HARRY CREWS ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Crews' motley crew
This is a Crews novel printed in 1998 in a limited quantity (426 copies) by a small publisher. Although I suppose it could be read without prior knowledge of Crews' canon, it contains characters from a number of his previous books: Karate is a Thing of the Spirit; Naked in Garden Hills; The Gospel Singer; Car; and All We Need of Hell. It would be best to have read all of these before Where Does One Go...? (I admit I've read all but Naked in Garden Hills.) That said, this is a more dreamlike, playful, self-conscious novel than Crews' usual work. Strange in a different way than all his books are strange. It contains moments of beautiful writing and philosophic dialogue. It is Crews wrestling with his own mind, demons, and characters from his stories. He has a large ensemble cast to manage, and he does it fairly well. The story is a bit anachronistic, especially since it published in 1998, but I guess Crews had been working on it for awhile. It's not as strong as his stronger work (Karate...; A Feast of Snakes; etc), but it's a unique and interesting read full of Crews' dark humor, human/inhuman characters, and surreal goings-ons. I know it's pricey due to its limited copies made, but for the diehard Crews fan I would recommend this book highly. My least favorite Crews is Body and my favorite is Karate...; I would place Where Does One Go...? somewhere in the middle. Worthwhile and would make a great movie if handled right. ... Read more

Product Description
Each letter of the alphabet introduces a cause of pollution and a way of preventing it. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more