SCREAMING WITH THE CANNIBALS [Hardcover]

LEE MAYNARD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2004

Screaming with the Cannibals, the much anticipated sequel to Lee Maynard’s cult classic Crum, gets its title when the central character finds himself in an evangelical service in Kentucky on the other side of the Tug River from his native West Virginia. As the folks touched by the Spirit rave and howl, he remembers how, back in Crum, the folks used to tell him to stay on his side of the river, because the people on the other side were known to eat their children. And now, here he is in a Kentucky holy-roller church, screaming with the cannibals.

Since the first novel, our protagonist has visited the West Virginia holler where his family lived before he moved up to the greater sophistication of Crum, and there he discovers that his favorite uncle has disappeared from the face of the earth in a moonshining accident. He then meets the girl who makes the earth – or at least the hay loft – move for him, quite literally falling for her. From there he goes to Kentucky, and then to Myrtle Beach, where he gets hired as a lifeguard, although he cannot swim a stroke.

If Crum is (as many have said) West Virginia’s answer to J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, then Screaming with the Cannibals is Appalachia’s response to John Updike’s Rabbit Run.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Maynard] once again succeeds in delivering a devastatingly, soul-searching, scabrous and very funny literary experience." Michael Shannon Friedman, The Charleston Gazette

From the Back Cover

Screaming with the Cannibals gets its title when the central character of Maynard’s prequel, Crum, finds himself in an evangelical service in Kentucky on the other side of the Tug River from his native West Virginia. As the folks touched by the Spirit rave and howl, he remembers that back in Crum the folks used to tell him to stay on his side of the river because the people on the other side were known to eat their children. And now, here he is in a Kentucky holy-roller church, screaming right along with the cannibals.

Since the first novel, our protagonist has visited the West Virginia holler where his family lived before they moved up to the greater sophistication of Crum. There he discovers that his favorite uncle has disappeared from the face of the earth in a moonshining accident. He then meets the girl who makes the earth—or at least the hayloft—move for him and, quite literally, he falls for her. From there he goes to Kentucky, and then to Myrtle Beach, where he gets hired as a lifeguard, although he cannot swim a stroke.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Vandalia Press; 1st Edition edition (January 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937058815
• ISBN-13: 978-0937058817
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #322,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quest of Jesse Stone, January 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: SCREAMING WITH THE CANNIBALS (Hardcover)

Screaming with the Cannibals(SWTC)is action packed and often hilariously funny. The novel is a page-turner filled with downright descriptive sex, and the language men and boys might use when at war. It is the story of an intelligent young boy, Jesse Stone, coming of age and coping with feelings of aloneness, repressive religion, racial turmoil, etc.

The 2nd in a series, SWTC takes up where Maynard's first novel Crum left off. However, the author skillfully incorporates information from Crum in the form of flashbacks and each novel stands alone.

SWTC opens with Jesse, a rough and tumble 50s era football playing, book reading kid, finishing Crum High School. He is determined to see the world he has experience only through the books in the school's library.

Short on specific goals but high on self-reliance, Jesse packs his favorite book, a change of clothes and about thirteen dollars and "lights out" for somewhere.

He hitches a ride and briefly end up a farm hand in nearby Kentucky. There he gets interested (that's putting in mildly)in a neigbor's wife and contributes to a near riot at the farm community's yearly Fundamentalist revival. On the run, he heads south on an unlicensed Triumph motorcycle he rebuilt from used farm equipment parts.

Testesterone in high gear, Jesse finds more trouble with a South Carolina Sheriff before he lands a job as a lifeguard at Myrtle Beach.

Jesse runs smack-dab into racial trumoil and segregated beaches, the same Sheriff, responsible work, plus hoards of nubile girls and a Mrs. Robinson-type older woman.

If you ever wonder, "What goes on in the minds of teen aged boys?" this is the book to read.

The novel is extremely well written and easy to read. I especially like Maynard's writing style.

Readers who remember Myrtle Beach in the "old days" will enjoy the scenes set there.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern American Classic, September 13, 2004

By 

Victoria (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SCREAMING WITH THE CANNIBALS (Hardcover)

First, forget the review that said women don't enjoy Crum. Anyone can and will enjoy both of Lee Maynard's books if they have a good sense of humour and aren't a prude. I loved Crum. It was hilariously raunchy and accurate in its portrayal of country life.

Screaming With The Cannibals may even be better than Crum. Where Crum was a country boy's wild adolescence, Screaming With The Cannibals is a young man's cross country adventure. It's funny, sexy, adventurous, human, exciting, ...and a whole lot of other adjectives!

A modern classic. So much life and imagination is packed into this small book. Life in the country, road trips, strange Mountain folk, scary Southern folk, tent revivals, crazy preachers, skinny dippin', train jumpin', [hot] lifeguards, murderous cops, car chases, and sex smothered in home cookin'.

It has that timeless, country humour and atmosphere of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, with a bit of On the Road, Stand by Me, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and 9 1/2 Weeks thrown in the mix. All written in simple, straight forward, but still somehow poetic language. I didn't want it to end.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sequel to Crum, May 21, 2004

By 

T. Bratz "gwfeds0" (Beaverton, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SCREAMING WITH THE CANNIBALS (Hardcover)

If you haven't read Crum, don't bother getting this book. This is the sequel to Crum, and although it's not quite as good as the original, it's a great story.

Crum is a book that very few women would enjoy. If you're a guy with a sense of humor you should check it out. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read, about a kid growing up in a small town in West Virginia. The book is full of the adventures of this kid and his friends, and of his quest to leave the town of Crum. If you enjoy that book, you will also like this one.

Lee Maynard is an outstanding writer, and I'm constantly looking for anything new by him. I was thrilled when I found this book earlier this year and not at all disappointed when I read it.