Review: "A Feast of Snakes" by Harry Crews

This book astounding me, not in how good it is, but in how audacious it is in its structure. Never have I come across a book like A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews, which is both a compliment and an insult to Crews himself. It is just to weird to be something I whole-heartedly liked, but I got to give it some credit for what it does story-wise. The thing I am talking about lies in the ending, which maybe the best twist I have come across in all my reading. I am not kidding here, but the whole narrative of this novel, which about 177 pages long, is leading up to the last page and a half. It is a feat of literary mastery that had me speechless by the end. The book itself may not be something I loved, but I praise it for the same reason I praise Chris Adrian: you could look high and low for years and not find anything else like this book, despite its flaws. The plot of this slim, yet memorable novel involves the town of Mystic, Georgia, where every year more and more people are coming to the celebrate their annual snake festival. But one resident, Joe Lon, has other plans, plans that come to a head at the aforementioned last couple pages. The absurdity on those pages alone could be another short novel in itself, which is something I must say about this book. It would do much better as a short story, and at 177 pages, it is a little too long. If it were over 200, I would not be being so kind to it. I’d say read it if you can find a copy (I think it may be out of print), but get ready for a long set-up to an insane payoff.

Rating: 4/5