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Celebration
Now from the author the Washington Post Book World calls "the dark chronicler of human vanity and folly" comes Celebration. The newest black comedy from Harry Crews is a biting, brilliant commentary set in a Florida rest-home gulag where the over-sixty-five set checks its dignity, self-esteem, and social security numbers at the door.
Forever and Forever is the aptly named retreat, populated by a motley crew of forgotten wives and ruined men who are waiting for death while working on their tans. The leader of this group is Stump, whose lost arm paid for Forever and Forever, and who believes the silent desperation that infuses the trailer park masks the fact that Forever and Forever is truly a small piece of hell on earth.
This ironic silence is shattered by the entrance of a beautiful young bombshell. Too Much is her name, and that is exactly what she is. This walking bonfire awakens long dead appetites in the inhabitants of Forever and Forever, reminding them of what they once were and can be again—a live.
Forever and Forever is the aptly named retreat, populated by a motley crew of forgotten wives and ruined men who are waiting for death while working on their tans. The leader of this group is Stump, whose lost arm paid for Forever and Forever, and who believes the silent desperation that infuses the trailer park masks the fact that Forever and Forever is truly a small piece of hell on earth.
This ironic silence is shattered by the entrance of a beautiful young bombshell. Too Much is her name, and that is exactly what she is. This walking bonfire awakens long dead appetites in the inhabitants of Forever and Forever, reminding them of what they once were and can be again—a live.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
472 people want to read
About the author
Harry Crews
68 books644 followersHarry Eugene Crews was born during the Great Depression to sharecroppers in Bacon County, Georgia. His father died when he was an infant and his mother quickly remarried. His mother later moved her sons to Jacksonville, Florida. Crews is twice divorced and is the father of two sons. His eldest son drowned in 1964.
Crews served in the Korean War and, following the war, enrolled at the University of Florida under the G.I. Bill. After two years of school, Crews set out on an extended road trip. He returned to the University of Florida in 1958. Later, after graduating from the master's program, Crews was denied entrance to the graduate program for Creative Writing. He moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he taught English at Broward Community College. In 1968, Crews' first novel, The Gospel Singer, was published. Crews returned to the University of Florida as an English faculty member.
In spring of 1997, Crews retired from UF to devote himself fully to writing. Crews published continuously since his first novel, on average of one novel per year. He died in 2012, at the age of 78.
Crews served in the Korean War and, following the war, enrolled at the University of Florida under the G.I. Bill. After two years of school, Crews set out on an extended road trip. He returned to the University of Florida in 1958. Later, after graduating from the master's program, Crews was denied entrance to the graduate program for Creative Writing. He moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he taught English at Broward Community College. In 1968, Crews' first novel, The Gospel Singer, was published. Crews returned to the University of Florida as an English faculty member.
In spring of 1997, Crews retired from UF to devote himself fully to writing. Crews published continuously since his first novel, on average of one novel per year. He died in 2012, at the age of 78.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
February 12, 2023
The setting is "Forever and Forever" - an old age home where the living dead are passing their last years in a silent despair. When Stump, the owner and manager of the old age home brings in Too Much (yes, that's her name), a sexy woman with a personality as thrilling as her body, the home dwellers wake up from their slumber. And there is real change.
The central idea that drives the plot and characters - there is nothing like a bit of sex to invigorate these old farts stuck in the old age home. But humans fear real change. We probably want to kill people who might want to save us from our dreary lives, lol.
Nowhere close to Crews best. But still has some hilarious and shocking moments. The Wild Turkey guzzling one handed war veteran Stump character was a great creation. I was probably the only one who felt a bit bad for the guy when he becomes the odd one out on his own property due to the antics of his girlfriend Too Much, who gets all the invigorated oldies on her side.
The central idea that drives the plot and characters - there is nothing like a bit of sex to invigorate these old farts stuck in the old age home. But humans fear real change. We probably want to kill people who might want to save us from our dreary lives, lol.
Nowhere close to Crews best. But still has some hilarious and shocking moments. The Wild Turkey guzzling one handed war veteran Stump character was a great creation. I was probably the only one who felt a bit bad for the guy when he becomes the odd one out on his own property due to the antics of his girlfriend Too Much, who gets all the invigorated oldies on her side.
April 12, 2008
I love the beejeezus out of Harry Crews, but this isn't one of his better books. I never found the character of Too Much to be believable, or consistent. Her hold on the denizens of Forever & Forever was too all-encompassing, and the message of "Everyone at the Senior Citizen Retirement Park was somebody very interesting in their prior life" fell short on me. I find that most people aren't very interesting. Oh, sure, it's true that they're interesting as individual people, as actual human beings, but if I gathered up a randomized collection of senior citizens I'd likely find not one ex concert pianist, master furniture craftsman, legendary lumberjack, incredibly skilled pickpocket, or top ranked boxer, but all of those are here, and more.
Additionally, no matter how much "spirit" you infuse in a person who's in their 70's or 80's, their bodies are still the same. So don't give me stories of groups of senior citizens all dancing for twelve hours straight, because at the end of that paragraph you might as well tell me that a pixie arrived on a dragon to carry them all away.
What really rankled me, though, was the reoccuring conversations with Too Much and Stump. With a lot more verbiage, they all went like this:
Too Much: You're going to do what I want.
Stump: No I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump: No I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump: No, I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump (now sweating): No, I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump: Okay.
There, it was boring once, and it was boring twice, and it was sure as heck boring the maybe thirty times it happened in the book.
And the ending was too abrupt, and Too Much loses her own message, which has been the driving force of her character and the book. Past that, the ending reminded me too much (haw!) of Crew's "A Feast of Snakes," except that here in this book it was fairly trite, while in "Snakes" it was a brilliant resolution towards which the book had been building.
So, all in all, while I love Crews as a writer (Feast of Snakes, Car, and Body are all brilliant) I'd only hand this particular one off to Crews completists.
Additionally, no matter how much "spirit" you infuse in a person who's in their 70's or 80's, their bodies are still the same. So don't give me stories of groups of senior citizens all dancing for twelve hours straight, because at the end of that paragraph you might as well tell me that a pixie arrived on a dragon to carry them all away.
What really rankled me, though, was the reoccuring conversations with Too Much and Stump. With a lot more verbiage, they all went like this:
Too Much: You're going to do what I want.
Stump: No I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump: No I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump: No, I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump (now sweating): No, I won't.
Too Much: Yes, you will.
Stump: Okay.
There, it was boring once, and it was boring twice, and it was sure as heck boring the maybe thirty times it happened in the book.
And the ending was too abrupt, and Too Much loses her own message, which has been the driving force of her character and the book. Past that, the ending reminded me too much (haw!) of Crew's "A Feast of Snakes," except that here in this book it was fairly trite, while in "Snakes" it was a brilliant resolution towards which the book had been building.
So, all in all, while I love Crews as a writer (Feast of Snakes, Car, and Body are all brilliant) I'd only hand this particular one off to Crews completists.
May 25, 2020
Set in a Florida trailer park for the elderly, this coarse tale tells of the life and peculiar powers of a young woman who has fallen hard times, called 'Too Much', a girl who grew up with her anarchist granddaddy in the Florida swamplands and whose name refers to her colossal bosom and backside.
Too Much spends her days winding up the assortment of misfits who live in the trailer park, and it is in the invention of this set of characters, Crews works his wizardry.
She works her charm on the trailer park owner, Stump, with his amputated arm, and he soon finds himself 'knee deep in kink'.
The tentative plot, such as it is, is that Too Much is planning a Mayday celebration, with dancing and costumes, to brighten the lives of the old folk, enlisting the help of a retired carpenter, a former bank president, and an scratchy old pickpocket.
Its not Crews at his best, but it is fun. Less literary wit, more like Sid James and Barbara Windsor - but nothing wrong with that.
Too Much spends her days winding up the assortment of misfits who live in the trailer park, and it is in the invention of this set of characters, Crews works his wizardry.
She works her charm on the trailer park owner, Stump, with his amputated arm, and he soon finds himself 'knee deep in kink'.
The tentative plot, such as it is, is that Too Much is planning a Mayday celebration, with dancing and costumes, to brighten the lives of the old folk, enlisting the help of a retired carpenter, a former bank president, and an scratchy old pickpocket.
Its not Crews at his best, but it is fun. Less literary wit, more like Sid James and Barbara Windsor - but nothing wrong with that.
March 19, 2015
Tore through this book in a couple of days. As a newcomer to Harry Crews' world of freaks and misfits I found myself trying to pigeon-hole this brand of fiction before realizing he has more or less created his own genre. The only writer who's work I can say is vaguely similar is that of Jim Dodge. The plot revolves around the stunningly beautiful woman named Too Much, who after her grandfather brought her up she leaves the home in search of adventure via manipulation of the weak, elderly and crippled in the trailer park Forever and Forever. There is always something magical happening to the most unlikely heroes with Crew's fiction. I will definitely chase down the other books. He is a powerful American writer who I have criminally overlooked until now.
April 20, 2023
“Every man is looking for his death. Finding the right one is the most important thing in a whole life.”
“You don’t live anywhere but in your head. That’s where it all starts and ends. So you’ve got to get your head right.”
“You don’t live anywhere but in your head. That’s where it all starts and ends. So you’ve got to get your head right.”
June 30, 2015
This is my favorite Harry Crews book. It's hilarious, surreal, touching, and disturbing. Lots of hijinx and raw souls and strange sexy stuff. By the end, I was like "woh, what the f just happened?" I love that feeling.
April 29, 2008
This book is awesome on so many different levels. Probably my favorite Crews book, at least that I can remember. I don't think I'll ever forget the character of Too Much, who I still haven't decided about - whether she represents God or the devil. She really seems to take a tough-love approach to making people happy, bringing them joy and helping them learn to love each other and, more importantly, themselves. But, is making people love themselves (often at the expense of others) a divine work or a proliferation of selfishness? Some would say selfishness is divine, because we have to know and love ourselves in order to live our fullest, most creative lives. And if that is not holy, what is?
I guess Stump is a sort of Satan figure, with his wishing people would die... but really, he's just human. He doesn't have enough influence over anybody to be really evil. Too Much really is superhuman. I guess her extraordinary upbringing led to her warped emotions - so full of pride, so confident and determined. This attitude led her to control and enthrall others - an endless cycle. I thought Stump would find a way to put her in her place but he is a weak man. I just wonder about the ending... is he going to be killed or changed forever? Murdered by the thing that repulses him the most - celebration - or by putting on his army boots (involuntarily) is he joining the residents in their costume, celebration, life? I guess I would be interested to read a criticism of this book to see what others thought of it.
P.S. The mopping scene was hilarious!
I guess Stump is a sort of Satan figure, with his wishing people would die... but really, he's just human. He doesn't have enough influence over anybody to be really evil. Too Much really is superhuman. I guess her extraordinary upbringing led to her warped emotions - so full of pride, so confident and determined. This attitude led her to control and enthrall others - an endless cycle. I thought Stump would find a way to put her in her place but he is a weak man. I just wonder about the ending... is he going to be killed or changed forever? Murdered by the thing that repulses him the most - celebration - or by putting on his army boots (involuntarily) is he joining the residents in their costume, celebration, life? I guess I would be interested to read a criticism of this book to see what others thought of it.
P.S. The mopping scene was hilarious!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2024
I was told about Crews by a friend, but that friend also warned that parts of Crews’s work had not aged very well. I don’t think Celebration is his most, ahem, celebrated work, but it’s the one I could find at the library.
Crews can really paint some characters, really bring them to life. He writes great dialogue.
A problem is that, at least in Celebration, his non-white characters come off as thin stereotypes and he writes phonetically the words spoken by non-white characters (but not white characters, even those whom you would think would have a strong accent). Those aspects have not aged well.
The register in which Celebration is written, along with the motley cast of characters who have been dug up from seemingly every dark alley and scraped off the bottom of every dirty floor across America, reminds me strongly of Cormac McCarthy, and the southern setting does as well. Celebration doesn’t have the weight that McCarthy achieves in most of his novels, feeling like someone who sliced off some of McCarthy’s apocalypse and placed it into the ‘sex scenes’ category. McCarthy’s writing of non-white (and female) characters can also be criticized for lack of depth, but it’s much more noticeable in Crews.
I do, however, like the ending. It is a surprising shift, and it helped earlier parts of the book make sense to me (such as elderly people dancing so long or having so much energy, as well as Too Much’s fascination with May Day).
I’m glad I read this, and I was appropriately forewarned about its shortcomings, but I don’t think I will be seeking out Crews’s other work.
Crews can really paint some characters, really bring them to life. He writes great dialogue.
A problem is that, at least in Celebration, his non-white characters come off as thin stereotypes and he writes phonetically the words spoken by non-white characters (but not white characters, even those whom you would think would have a strong accent). Those aspects have not aged well.
The register in which Celebration is written, along with the motley cast of characters who have been dug up from seemingly every dark alley and scraped off the bottom of every dirty floor across America, reminds me strongly of Cormac McCarthy, and the southern setting does as well. Celebration doesn’t have the weight that McCarthy achieves in most of his novels, feeling like someone who sliced off some of McCarthy’s apocalypse and placed it into the ‘sex scenes’ category. McCarthy’s writing of non-white (and female) characters can also be criticized for lack of depth, but it’s much more noticeable in Crews.
I do, however, like the ending. It is a surprising shift, and it helped earlier parts of the book make sense to me (such as elderly people dancing so long or having so much energy, as well as Too Much’s fascination with May Day).
I’m glad I read this, and I was appropriately forewarned about its shortcomings, but I don’t think I will be seeking out Crews’s other work.
November 30, 2023
"You old petrified bastards, don't worry about being dead. I carry the touch of life" - Crews
Harry Crew's language is full of life, and here, the search for the opportunity of infinite possibility. You, as the reader, never settle down in this book, you're washed off your feet in the tale of a nymphet who comes to a retiree's trailer park and brings happiness by beyond outlandish means.
Celebration is a mix of a Brer Rabbit parable and southern voice, paired with the exploration of the possibility of character inventiveness and enigmatsim in William Gaddis ' JR.
Harry Crew's language is full of life, and here, the search for the opportunity of infinite possibility. You, as the reader, never settle down in this book, you're washed off your feet in the tale of a nymphet who comes to a retiree's trailer park and brings happiness by beyond outlandish means.
Celebration is a mix of a Brer Rabbit parable and southern voice, paired with the exploration of the possibility of character inventiveness and enigmatsim in William Gaddis ' JR.
May 10, 2010
If you're a fan of the unusual, southern gothic, gonzo, bizarro or just plain surreal books this one is for you. Harry Crews offers interesting stories about truly unique people and is never afraid to show all their strange stripes and interests. I first discovered the author through Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus a fascinating film about the south and its music a few years back. The book was even more fascinating and unusual than the author was in the film.
Celebration is a story about a sad community of retirees both senile and just feeling old and lonely. At first things go on as usual in the community but as Too Much the unusual and very vivacious young lover of Stump the park's owner begins to work her "magic" on the park changes begin to supersede the sadness and death that each of them took for granted. Too Much's brand of magic forces them out of the terrible stillness, regret and anger that have overtaken these seniors in old age and forcing them to address these issues and begin to make their own much needed changes.
If anyone else had written this book it would be far less interesting and discuss little more than starting over in the golden years. Through Crews' tale however we experience a wide variety of cantankerous and bizarre characters who undergo changes which only expand on that eccentricity through Too Much's own unique world view. It's a charming tale with several interesting scenes and well worth the read.
Celebration is a story about a sad community of retirees both senile and just feeling old and lonely. At first things go on as usual in the community but as Too Much the unusual and very vivacious young lover of Stump the park's owner begins to work her "magic" on the park changes begin to supersede the sadness and death that each of them took for granted. Too Much's brand of magic forces them out of the terrible stillness, regret and anger that have overtaken these seniors in old age and forcing them to address these issues and begin to make their own much needed changes.
If anyone else had written this book it would be far less interesting and discuss little more than starting over in the golden years. Through Crews' tale however we experience a wide variety of cantankerous and bizarre characters who undergo changes which only expand on that eccentricity through Too Much's own unique world view. It's a charming tale with several interesting scenes and well worth the read.
June 25, 2007
This book is a must read for anyone that has lived in Florida and wondered what happens (or could happen) in those run down trailer park retirement homes that litter the state.
This dark satire is oh-so distributing at times and laugh out loud funny at other times.
Forever and Forever (the name of the park) is Stump's little piece of hell who is content with letting the old inhabitants slowly die away, Then Too Much enters the park and manages to snatch everyone out of their stupor and sets a fire in Forever and Forever that pushes everyone to the brink of insanity.
This dark satire is oh-so distributing at times and laugh out loud funny at other times.
Forever and Forever (the name of the park) is Stump's little piece of hell who is content with letting the old inhabitants slowly die away, Then Too Much enters the park and manages to snatch everyone out of their stupor and sets a fire in Forever and Forever that pushes everyone to the brink of insanity.
February 24, 2013
Celebration is one of Crews' best. If you liked the absurdity of A Feast of Snakes, you will enjoy Celebration even more, as long as you prefer female heroes. Too Much rules the world sexually, philosophically, and spiritually. She is so much that I mourn the end of her reign. Crews created a powerful voice in Too Much; it's clear to me Crews is better able to channel his understanding through her than he is able with male characters.
August 2, 2016
I have a feeling this might have worked better as a novella or even a short story. It was just interesting enough to drag me to the end, but many of the scenes felt overwritten and padded, the conversations unnecessarily drawn out. And the ending didn't quite make it worth the slog. It never fully came together for me. I'm not sorry I finished it, but would only really recommend it to fans of Crews who've already read most of his other work.
August 16, 2012
Not for the timid, Harry Crews is unafraid to be stark. This is a finely crafted story whose end ties nicely to the beginning, creating a nice package. Several characters require a willful suspension of disbelief, especially the drone-like Old Ones, but Crews is such a great storyteller and writer that I'm more than willing to go along for the ride.
April 9, 2024
In spite of the praise heaped on him by those who claim to know, Crews takes the grotesque to a level that is painful. Draining whatever humor might be found in his characters, he sprinkles the plot with enough pornographic imagery to render the plot silly and nonsensical. There are no likable characters here, and no one to feel sympathy for, so there is no catharsis when the mess finally comes to an end. I've now read the first of Crews' novels and the last, and can see no good reason to attempt anything between.
June 16, 2025
Easily one of the worst books I’ve ever read. Just completely stupid almost from the beginning. In so many ways. I only (barely) finished it (skimmed it) because of the author’s name. I assume you have to have a name to get a book this bad published, and considering that this was his last full novel, and that it came out years after the bulk of his work, I am assuming that was the case here. At least, I hope that is the case. Way too many people, whose opinions I value, seem to like his work.
April 9, 2024
Has any big thinker, adolescent of wonder, ever asked, What would happen if Playboy magazine’s Little Annie Fanny were reborn as a character in Florida literature who infiltrates a retirement home and launches a mission to liberate the wrecked old kooks waiting there to die? Harry Crews has supplied the answer. The climactic outcome would be a Celebration.
April 12, 2023
A shocking, engaging dark comedy about what it means to be alive and whether we allow aging to make us stop living long before we're dead.
May 15, 2012
This is one of Crews' best books — certainly as good asThe Gospel Singer, much better than The Mulching of America. Though it may not be close to what I consider Crew's finest ( i.e. Karate is a Thing of the Spirit, Car, A Feast of Snakes), it is most assuredly worth the price of admission.
Celebration is set in in rural Florida at a mobile home trailer park cum retirement village owned by a man named Stump, a nickname earned from having his right hand shot off in the Korean War. Stump's park is inhabited by a troop of your typical Crewsian grotesques, a retired lumberjack, a former bank manager recently released from jail for embezzlement, an alcoholic groundskeeper who never works, etc. All these oldsters are here for one thing only. They are waiting calmly for death, knowing that Stump will be there to clean up their trailers and to bury them when they pass on. Stump himself might as well be dead, since he lives now solely for his own pleasures and cares not one whit for the old folks in his charge.
Into this land of the shadow comes a sweet young thing appropriately named "Too Much,"since she is so voluptuosly fecund that she fills all her clothes to bursting. She is a sex goddess, an Astarte figure who fulfills all of Stump's carnal desires whether they are sexual or alcoholic. She is so amazingly beautiful and full of life that every day as she does laps in the village pool, the oldest of the near dead come to watch her swim and towel off — even the women. Too Much takes these Oldies to her heart and decides she will do something to make their lives better. She will organize May Day ceremonies in the center of the camp to celebrate life so that the seniors will focus their attention on the here and now, not on the bleak future. The conflict and the boisterous good humor that arises throughout the novel derives from the insistent power of Too Much's drive for life butting up against Stump's death wish.
For those such as I who had written Crews off some ten or fifteen years ago as a has-been, this novel is a blessing. Crews bows up and produces a ripper of a yarn filled with Rabelaisian humor and solid artistry. It reminds us of what once was.
February 6, 2010
A baby polar bear approached its mother one day and said:
"Mom, am I a polar bear?"
"Yes," she said. "You're a polar bear."
"What about you, are you a polar bear?"
"Well, yeah. I'm your mother, so I'd be a polar bear."
"What about dad?"
"Oh for God's sake. You're a polar bear, I'm a polar bear, your father's a polar bear, we're a family of polar bears."
The baby polar bear paused a minute and thought about it.
"What about my grandparents, were they polar bears too?"
"YES! We're all polar bears! All of us! Why are you asking these questions?"
"BECAUSE I'M FUCKING COLD!"
I use that joke as an illustration of how I perceive a lot of Harry Crews's work. The reader is taken on a tour of some subset of the soft, diseased, spiritually and emotionally corrupt underbelly of American civilization. The reader is given a cast of absurd characters ranging from the patently normal to the quasi-caricatured. These characters clamor about in different small-time arenas of conflict and interaction until the closing which strikes like a punch line, but rather than concluding a joke, Crews's version of a denouement usually consists of some form of extreme violence, tying everything together in a nihilistic blaze of glory which stands in direct contrast to any sort of Swiftian moralism that might be able to be extracted from the rest of the work.
That said, however, I don't want to suggest that Crews is in any way formulaic or hackneyed. I love the shit out of everything I've read of his. He's one of the only authors to be able to make me laugh out loud or make me feel like I needed to take a shower to wash off the grime of his reality. If you enjoy the sort of humor that makes you feel like you just got your ass kicked, read everything that Harry Crews has written.
"Mom, am I a polar bear?"
"Yes," she said. "You're a polar bear."
"What about you, are you a polar bear?"
"Well, yeah. I'm your mother, so I'd be a polar bear."
"What about dad?"
"Oh for God's sake. You're a polar bear, I'm a polar bear, your father's a polar bear, we're a family of polar bears."
The baby polar bear paused a minute and thought about it.
"What about my grandparents, were they polar bears too?"
"YES! We're all polar bears! All of us! Why are you asking these questions?"
"BECAUSE I'M FUCKING COLD!"
I use that joke as an illustration of how I perceive a lot of Harry Crews's work. The reader is taken on a tour of some subset of the soft, diseased, spiritually and emotionally corrupt underbelly of American civilization. The reader is given a cast of absurd characters ranging from the patently normal to the quasi-caricatured. These characters clamor about in different small-time arenas of conflict and interaction until the closing which strikes like a punch line, but rather than concluding a joke, Crews's version of a denouement usually consists of some form of extreme violence, tying everything together in a nihilistic blaze of glory which stands in direct contrast to any sort of Swiftian moralism that might be able to be extracted from the rest of the work.
That said, however, I don't want to suggest that Crews is in any way formulaic or hackneyed. I love the shit out of everything I've read of his. He's one of the only authors to be able to make me laugh out loud or make me feel like I needed to take a shower to wash off the grime of his reality. If you enjoy the sort of humor that makes you feel like you just got your ass kicked, read everything that Harry Crews has written.
September 14, 2010
great story from crews! more zany characters, stump, too much, who likes to scratch cause it feels good, no crabs. too much's grandpa called her the appleseed of happiness, but he told her that no one would understand that, something along those lines. too much and stump hook up in the trailer park/old foggeys place that stump oversees. one of the characters shoots the swamp nearby every morning. things like that happen. some old buck, former lumberjack, makes a maypole for too much cause that's what she wants.
too much (susanna french) is from from a place near a place..."a great writer, dead now, dead way too early, and a character in one of her books says that." (any ideas who? if it had said "stories" instead of "books" i might guess flannery o'connor, but i suspect that's wrong and i don't know. hi ho)
anyway, great story.
some deep doo doo as well: "good could be done but only in the tiniest of increments and for the briefest of moments. evil, on the other hand, was boundless and could be made to last over millennia, again all because of the taloned and bloody-mouthed human beast."
too much (susanna french) is from from a place near a place..."a great writer, dead now, dead way too early, and a character in one of her books says that." (any ideas who? if it had said "stories" instead of "books" i might guess flannery o'connor, but i suspect that's wrong and i don't know. hi ho)
anyway, great story.
some deep doo doo as well: "good could be done but only in the tiniest of increments and for the briefest of moments. evil, on the other hand, was boundless and could be made to last over millennia, again all because of the taloned and bloody-mouthed human beast."
April 27, 2012
Everything is going fine for Stump, he owns a retirement community & doesn't know anything about the residents - and doesn't want to know anything. Trouble comes in the form of a young beauty named Too Much, and thanks to her, he starts to feel good about his missing hand (hence the nickname) and his life. It's all downhill from there...
Sorry it took me so long to read a Crews, he passed away in April 2012. The characters reminded me of the types that usually inhabit a David Lynch film. There's Johnson, who takes daily shots at the swamp in the hopes of one day killing it, his hated wife Mabel, a Chinese carpenter Honorable Mr. Doo, a handyman named Justice (who changes his name to Kid Lightning), and a large group of retirees called The Old Ones that parade around mindlessly doing Too Much's bidding. It starts out strange & gets weirder.
I do like fiction that plays around with the Cult of Personality, and this one sure fits in that genre. R.I.P Mr. Crews.
Sorry it took me so long to read a Crews, he passed away in April 2012. The characters reminded me of the types that usually inhabit a David Lynch film. There's Johnson, who takes daily shots at the swamp in the hopes of one day killing it, his hated wife Mabel, a Chinese carpenter Honorable Mr. Doo, a handyman named Justice (who changes his name to Kid Lightning), and a large group of retirees called The Old Ones that parade around mindlessly doing Too Much's bidding. It starts out strange & gets weirder.
I do like fiction that plays around with the Cult of Personality, and this one sure fits in that genre. R.I.P Mr. Crews.
June 5, 2013
This is not at all the sort of novel I should have liked. It’s about a Korean War veteran who bought a trailer park for seniors in Florida, and how his life, and the seniors’, are overturned by a young woman who calls herself Too Much. And is.
In some ways, the novel itself is too much, but it always works. Crews writes so well, has such a great sense of how long each scene, and each sentence, should be, that he seems able to do anything. Like Too Much. What happens is crazy, yet meaningful.
Too Much is after happiness, joy, and celebration — the goals of the self-help world — but she will stop at nothing to give (or force?) them on everyone before moving on. She’s a good fairy, or a bad one.
I’m glad I discovered Crews, even if it took his death to get the book off my shelves and into my hands.
In some ways, the novel itself is too much, but it always works. Crews writes so well, has such a great sense of how long each scene, and each sentence, should be, that he seems able to do anything. Like Too Much. What happens is crazy, yet meaningful.
Too Much is after happiness, joy, and celebration — the goals of the self-help world — but she will stop at nothing to give (or force?) them on everyone before moving on. She’s a good fairy, or a bad one.
I’m glad I discovered Crews, even if it took his death to get the book off my shelves and into my hands.
October 7, 2009
As the author of an outrageously funny satire, I especially appreciated this zany satire. Harry Crews is a gifted author with a bent for dark as well as outrageous humor. His characters are outlandish as are mine. I loved every minute of this book.
This is a story of a group of human souls who are trapped in a trailer park. They are basically waiting to die. Then along comes a beautiful and delightfully vibrant spirit named Too Much who wakes them up to the fact that they can indeed enjoy life.
If you want to take a walk on the wild side of life and get a healthy dose of laughs along the way, this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it! You will too.
Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"
This is a story of a group of human souls who are trapped in a trailer park. They are basically waiting to die. Then along comes a beautiful and delightfully vibrant spirit named Too Much who wakes them up to the fact that they can indeed enjoy life.
If you want to take a walk on the wild side of life and get a healthy dose of laughs along the way, this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it! You will too.
Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"
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April 19, 2023This is first time that the schtick of a Harry Crews novel felt unappealing from page one. We're at a retirement trailer community in Florida and there's a local sexpot who shows up to disrupt the works. She's already killed one man with sleeping with him, and who knows what's next. What normally carries us through Harry Crews novels, a powerful if disgusting momentum struggles in this one and barely manages to catch us, and worst, this is one of his longer books.
November 12, 2020
This was my first Harry Crews book, and based on what I’d heard about him, I went in expecting (hoping) it would read like a Tom Robbins novel. It didn’t.
I couldn’t grasp the motivations of the characters throughout, especially Too Much. She was written like some sort of hyper-sexualized witch doctor, with the supernatural ability to influence and control people. She spoke with an omniscient, condescending tone most of the time, but would often freely admit she didn’t have a plan or endgame in mind. A lot of the dialogue, especially between her and Stump, just dragged, I kept thinking that everyone was using way too many words to get their points across.
The two climactic scenes, with Johnson and Mabel in the swamp and Stump getting wrapped up in Mayday ribbon, left me feeling unfulfilled. They weren’t frivolous and chaotic enough for me to revel in the “gonzo wit” of the author, but more so, I just didn’t know why many of the events in the book had happened.
Too Much seemed like a missed opportunity. We met her after she came to Forever & Forever, so we didn’t get to see what the place was like before her. We never really found out much about her past, except that she had a well read, enigmatic grandfather. In chapter 12 we get a hint of her backstory: “she had been sniffed out by an even half dozen illiterate brothers, who had thought to make her their whore but whom she had turned one against the other until they killed themselves off to the point where only one remained, and he was given two life sentences, to be served consecutively.”
That would have made a better story than this one!
I couldn’t grasp the motivations of the characters throughout, especially Too Much. She was written like some sort of hyper-sexualized witch doctor, with the supernatural ability to influence and control people. She spoke with an omniscient, condescending tone most of the time, but would often freely admit she didn’t have a plan or endgame in mind. A lot of the dialogue, especially between her and Stump, just dragged, I kept thinking that everyone was using way too many words to get their points across.
The two climactic scenes, with Johnson and Mabel in the swamp and Stump getting wrapped up in Mayday ribbon, left me feeling unfulfilled. They weren’t frivolous and chaotic enough for me to revel in the “gonzo wit” of the author, but more so, I just didn’t know why many of the events in the book had happened.
Too Much seemed like a missed opportunity. We met her after she came to Forever & Forever, so we didn’t get to see what the place was like before her. We never really found out much about her past, except that she had a well read, enigmatic grandfather. In chapter 12 we get a hint of her backstory: “she had been sniffed out by an even half dozen illiterate brothers, who had thought to make her their whore but whom she had turned one against the other until they killed themselves off to the point where only one remained, and he was given two life sentences, to be served consecutively.”
That would have made a better story than this one!
August 21, 2020
Within the first two chapters you have had an elderly retiree describe the unbearable almond-tinged scent of his wife’s shit (one of many traits about her he despises - she has just as many in kind), and a buxom sexpot being pleasured by an amputee’s nub (from when he cut off his own arm after getting it caught in farm equipment). Buckle up, because it really doesn’t slow down from here.
From beginning to end, the book is a constant crescendo, the tension growing more and more fraught with each turn of the page. There are no lulls, and when things really start moving you begin to feel like maybe you’ve been tugging the Wild Turkey right alongside Stump, the alcoholic owner of Forever and Forever, a trailer park retirement community in South Florida.
The allegory of bombshell Too Much’s rise to de facto leader of Forever and Forever, stealing power from Stump and gaining control of the residents by teaching them how find inner peace by giving them a sense of purpose, works surprisingly well. It’s probably not a perfect book, but it worked incredibly well for me and I had a blast reading it.
From beginning to end, the book is a constant crescendo, the tension growing more and more fraught with each turn of the page. There are no lulls, and when things really start moving you begin to feel like maybe you’ve been tugging the Wild Turkey right alongside Stump, the alcoholic owner of Forever and Forever, a trailer park retirement community in South Florida.
The allegory of bombshell Too Much’s rise to de facto leader of Forever and Forever, stealing power from Stump and gaining control of the residents by teaching them how find inner peace by giving them a sense of purpose, works surprisingly well. It’s probably not a perfect book, but it worked incredibly well for me and I had a blast reading it.
June 14, 2018
I like dark comedy, and dark writing in general, as well as horror, psychological tension, irony, etc.
So, at first I had the feeling that this was kind of a Tom Robbins /Jitterbug Perfume - type book.
However, it quickly became more Stephen King/ Needful Things for me. Then darker.
I just couldn't find it comic. I didn't smile or laugh here.
I felt like another shoe was going to drop, and the shoe would be dropping from a great height, made of lead, and land squarely on a very vulnerable and sensitive part of the body.
This is very well written, definitely speaks to the perils of being too wrapped up in one's own self.
I won't give you any spoilers, but it is dark, and isn't going to be all tied up with a neat bow at the end.
So, at first I had the feeling that this was kind of a Tom Robbins /Jitterbug Perfume - type book.
However, it quickly became more Stephen King/ Needful Things for me. Then darker.
I just couldn't find it comic. I didn't smile or laugh here.
I felt like another shoe was going to drop, and the shoe would be dropping from a great height, made of lead, and land squarely on a very vulnerable and sensitive part of the body.
This is very well written, definitely speaks to the perils of being too wrapped up in one's own self.
I won't give you any spoilers, but it is dark, and isn't going to be all tied up with a neat bow at the end.
February 18, 2023
To be sure, this is a lesser Crews novel. But only by degrees. They can't all be Feast of Snakes. What saves Crews from total cancellation by younger readers (although I dare any creative writing professor to assign a single one of his novels--they'd get eaten alive and run off campus) is how powerful he makes his women. Not always, but in this novel and The Knockout Artist a sexually strong, confident, empowered female calls the shots.
We read Crews to admire writing without any limitations or filters. It's not for the faint of heart--if you like grit lit, this is for you. The ultimate trailer park melodrama.
We read Crews to admire writing without any limitations or filters. It's not for the faint of heart--if you like grit lit, this is for you. The ultimate trailer park melodrama.
February 14, 2021
A force of nature named “Too Much” rips through an amber-trapped retirement trailer park like Mother Nature in the guise of a tornado, changing lives without mercy. Highly pornographic in a way Mother Nature should be, this book is very creative in painting its two main characters, but occasionally gets bogged down with its descriptions, at the expense of narrative’s momentum. Overall, an exhilarating ride through a group of characters you likely never met.
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