A FEAST OF SNAKES: A NOVEL

Rating:
Summary: "Guns, Guts and God . . ."
Review: "Guns, guts and God made this country great," the bumper sticker read, or something along those lines. I bet that this same message is stuck on the back bumper of an old, beat-up pick-up truck in Mystic, Georgia, the setting of Harry Crews' A Feast of Snakes. It doesn't hurt to bring your stereotypes of the sticks-of-the-south lifestyle to this novel, because it's already here. But our attempts at parody are pathetic and shallow, for Crews brings a disturbing substance to the novel, a livelihood that is simultaneously funny and mean.A Feast of Snakes is a novel of bitter loss and subsequent redemption in the vein of other Southern writings. And Crews' characters are his strong suit; they are so ridiculous that they are all the more lifelike: From Joe Lon Mackey, a former All-American football star in high school who now runs whiskey for his father, a breeder and trainer of champion fighting pit bulls, to Lottie Mae, a young black girl who must face and defeat her ultimate fear, the "snake," all of the residents of Mystic and the guests who have descended upon it for the annual Rattlesnake Hunt are bitterly searching for themselves in a quagmire of dead ends. And Crews is a merciless writer, a slavedriver, for he offers no relief to his literary creations; just when you think that life has dealt its cruelest blow to the residents of Mystic, Crews undermines it with yet something worse. It makes salvation seemingly impossible. But like many great Southern masterpieces, redemption is possible, if only through violence.A Feast of Snakes is not a feel-good novel. It is, however, as humorous as it is disturbing. And if "Guns, Guts and God" did, indeed, make this country great, what the hell happened in Mystic, Georgia? You really should take the time to find out.

Rating:
Summary: "Guns, Guts and God . . ."
Review: "Guns, guts and God made this country great," the bumper sticker read, or something along those lines. I bet that this same message is stuck on the back bumper of an old, beat-up pick-up truck in Mystic, Georgia, the setting of Harry Crews' A Feast of Snakes. It doesn't hurt to bring your stereotypes of the sticks-of-the-south lifestyle to this novel, because it's already here. But our attempts at parody are pathetic and shallow, for Crews brings a disturbing substance to the novel, a livelihood that is simultaneously funny and mean. A Feast of Snakes is a novel of bitter loss and subsequent redemption in the vein of other Southern writings. And Crews' characters are his strong suit; they are so ridiculous that they are all the more lifelike: From Joe Lon Mackey, a former All-American football star in high school who now runs whiskey for his father, a breeder and trainer of champion fighting pit bulls, to Lottie Mae, a young black girl who must face and defeat her ultimate fear, the "snake," all of the residents of Mystic and the guests who have descended upon it for the annual Rattlesnake Hunt are bitterly searching for themselves in a quagmire of dead ends. And Crews is a merciless writer, a slavedriver, for he offers no relief to his literary creations; just when you think that life has dealt its cruelest blow to the residents of Mystic, Crews undermines it with yet something worse. It makes salvation seemingly impossible. But like many great Southern masterpieces, redemption is possible, if only through violence. A Feast of Snakes is not a feel-good novel. It is, however, as humorous as it is disturbing. And if "Guns, Guts and God" did, indeed, make this country great, what the hell happened in Mystic, Georgia? You really should take the time to find out.

Rating:
Summary: A Punch in the Face
Review: A Feast of Snakes is very short so I won't reveal any of the plot except that it is about a man coming unraveled. A teenager would enjoy the book but it really takes an adult to appreciate and understand it. It will surely be, and is already considered by many, an American classic. Be careful reading this if you feel like the best part of your life is over because it might just push you over the edge.

Rating:
Summary: feast of snakes
Review: After reading this book I have decided that Harry Crews is the best author whom i have had the pleasure of reading from. Before I read this book I had only read a piece of harry crews Autobiography. Immedietly after reading Feast of Snakes I went out and bought Mulching of America, another Crews novel. This book was extremely twisted and weird but very entertaining. Quite honestly i felt like I was breaking some kind of rule just reading this book while I was at school. As odd as it was you couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sick actions of the protaganist. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys strange charachters doing strange things.

Rating:
Summary: Crews at his best
Review: Despite heavy dialogue and a vision for the violent that would, perhaps, even make O'Connor a bit nervous; Crews has managed a story about a man on the edge that touches the gritty corners of the Southern experience. Crews characters are surprizingly dymanic for people who are almost gloriously "redneck" in their approach to life.

This book manages to make you laugh at some of the most profoundly disturbing aspects of rural southern life. The cruelty of the book is almost naturalistic in nature.

The only reason I don't rate this book with five stars is some of Crew's female characters can be a little harder to shallow than his men as well as the dialogue in the book being almost unnecessarily thick at points.

Rating:
Summary: hell yeah......
Review: great crews book, one of his best...bizzare, funny, twisted, perverted...not for everyone but a great quick read..lets you take a peek into a part of america that you would want to run from screaming if you got anywhere near it...crews lets you jump into this world and swim around with the whiskey, snakes, blood and freaks....check it out you wont be disappointed

Rating:
Summary: Tell it Man!
Review: Harry Crews rules! Weeeeeeee doggie what a tale!

Rating:
Summary: exposing the dark underbelly of a hopeless population
Review: Harry Crews takes the dark underbelly of the South and spins a tale that exposes even the most minute details to the scorching light of day.
The rattlesnake hunt is beginning in Mystic, Georgia and with the snakes the skeletons in the closets begin to pour out. Harry Crews has a cast of charaacters for his story that run the gamut from dark to hopeless, yet intriguing! An ex-football player who was the town super star is found running a squalid liquor store, unhappily married with two ever squalling babies. He is anticipating running into the "hottest" girl from high school days. That seems to be his only bright spot in his dead end life and he realizes that fact. The sheriff is a sexual predator, taking advantage of anyone he can and seemingly never pays the price for his crimes.
There is a young woman who is not sane, and who listens to TV 24/7. An older man who abuses dogs into becoming dog fighting champions is also a major character.
The trailer park that houses the visitors for the Rattlesnake festival is occupied by religious fanatics, snake freaks, and some stereotypical "good ole boys", and none of these people are anyone you would ever hope to meet.
The amazing thing is that CREWS brings them altogether in a finely detailed plot with an ending that is a real shocker.
This is not for the faint of heart, but this is a unique take on the down and dirty underbelly lives in a dirt-poor southern town.

Rating:
Summary: Contemporary Southern Culture
Review: Harry Crews, who grew up in rural south Georgia, does an excellent job of telling the story of a young man who grew up in a rural, poor, and culturally-deprived area of Georgia. The "hero" is JOe Lon Mackey, a former high school star football player, who finally realizes that he is a "nothing". One cannot live on past glories. He realizes this as he watches his former high school girlfriend go on to college and develop as a person.

Rating:
Summary: A graphic account that lives with you.
Review: I first read a Feast of Snakes soon after it was available in the UK and to this day I have a vivid memory of it. It paints a distrubing picture of a futile existence in a small southern town. A nowhere person in a nowhere town going nowhere. Although I haven't read it for a number of years it has been on my mind as one to re-read and it is about to be republished in the UK and my order is already in. A book that must be recommeded to friends.