The Knockout Artist - Harry Crews

So last week I finished the very engrossing Knockout Artist. My coworker was reading it and I picked it up when he wasn't around, putting away the first few chapters at my noisy workplace, until I finally got my own copy.
It's important I think, when discussing this book, to keep it spoiler-free for those who haven't read it. There are some really unique elements that make this book so great, but I really hope you read it - so I'm not going to reveal anything.
But I'll say what I can about Crews and this book. His characters and settings are rendered in a perfectly effortless language that is never uncomfortable for even a second. The first chapter of The Knockout Artist is positively arresting. To finish that first one is to pretty much sign a contract with Crews and the rest of the book; you will not be looking away from this gross roadside accident of a story. I can say that it might not necessarily be for everyone. If it were a film, it would have to fight the MPAA to even get an NC-17 rating. Some of the subject matter here can live only on the page or one's twisted imagination. It's not a trash novel by any means, but it can certainly get pretty rough. Crews doesn't relish in the nasty here, though. While at times eye-popping in its debauchery, the story is always coherent, always human and never malevolent. So many books are ready to give up on their readers, leaving one depressed and with a sense of gloom. (I'm looking at you, Brett Ellis.) Crews instead assumes the best of his reader, taking us down a dark path but not a dreadful experience. The book is also deceptively simple. The plain-English story will sometimes throw the reader a bizarre poetic curveball revealing the author's glaring enthusiasm for putting words on paper. Crews is supposed to be writing novels, and he's written this one well.
This, apparently, is one of Crews' minor works. I had to do a little research on the guy after I read The Knockout Artist. I guess his big one is another novel called A Feast of Snakes.
Anyway, I obviously recommend this one. C'mon. What are you reading now? You're just re-reading Lord of the Rings. And this blog. I bet Powell's has this no-name book for like six bucks. Just go get it instead of your usual issue of fucking Adbusters or whatever. Anyway.