Scar Lover [Hardcover]

Harry Crews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1992

Scarred by the past and by the tragic accident that destroyed his family, Pete Butcher finds salvation from his aimless, isolated, and hopeless life through the determined love of his next-door neighbor, Sarah Leamer. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although this demented and darkly humorous tale is billed as Crews's ( Body ) "most mainstream" novel, rest assured he hasn't gotten there quite yet. Acerbic college-dropout Pete Butcher loathes himself for accidentally causing his little brother brain damage with a claw hammer, and he is haunted by the sight of the dual dents on the child's forehead. On his way to a Jacksonville, Fla., warehouse--where he works with a Rastafarian whose wife repeatedly brands him to commemorate each year they are together--Pete encounters Sarah Leemer, a handsome, mesmerizing young woman with a golfball-like lump in her breast. Against his better judgment, he and Sarah become lovers and he is welcomed into her family, which includes a mentally unhinged mother who has just had a radical mastectomy and a father who complains of a bad heart "the size of a watermelon." The suffering foursome have just achieved an uneasy peace when tragedy strikes them anew, launching its survivors into a gruesome, comical, grimly poetic night of graphic death and Rasta remedies. Pete's sudden responsibility to the Leemers serves to expiate his guilt over his brother; Crews admirably sustains his theme of disfigurement and healing, and if the finale is slightly ambiguous it still bears its author's trademark perverse twist. Author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When Pete Butcher ends up in Jacksonville, Florida, he carries with him emotional scars from a devastated family life that cause him to recoil from the strangers he meets daily. Pete just wants to be left alone, but he has landed himself in the middle of a carnival of characters, especially Sarah Leamer, who has staked a claim to Pete. Pete is thus reluctantly drawn into her family's own tragic affairs. Through Sarah, Pete confronts life, death, and, ultimately, his own greatest scar. In the meantime, Pete befriends Burnt George, a co-worker and Rastafarian who carries his own horseshoe-shaped scars seared into his back. Crews darkly comic tale gives a disturbingly accurate portrayal of characters from the rural South, each fiercely shaped by sweat, grit, and cruel hardship. Although the plot becomes very strained at points, Scar Lover will not disappoint Crews's fans. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/91.
-Brack Stovall, Carrollton P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (February 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671744895
• ISBN-13: 978-0671744892
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has some moments, but overall flawed., March 5, 2002

By 

Bruddy Dahl (Perth Amboy, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scar Lover (Paperback)

...To me a five star book is supposed to be illuminating, exceptional, and something you'd consider coming back to and occasionally rereading. This isn't that type of book for me and therefore I give it three and a half. Although it has some poignant moments, overall I consider it significantly flawed.

The story focuses on the relationship between the lead character Pete Butcher and Sarah Leemer. This relationship is handled with delicacy and insight by Crews and takes on spiritual qualities by the end of the novel. As Pete comes to terms with his guilt Sarah unfolds as a strong, tender and courageous woman who helps Pete through the process of healing. In and of itself this relationship offers the reader an opportunity to observe the regeneration of a man from one weighed down by tremendous suffering and isolation to one who's willing to open up and confront not only his personal demons but also have them exorcised. There's certainly an element of human understanding in this book and it's through Pete and Sarah's relationship that we experience it.

The problem is with the characters that surround this relationship, some of whom often seem implausible or cartoonish and at times even irrelevant to the validity of what's going on with Pete and Sarah. The absurd and grotesque are elements of Southern fiction which in the past have been used to effectively demonstrate qualities of the human condition, but here they fail to do so. While encountering some of the characters in this book I found nothing in them in which I could identify some substantial idea or human trait. They more often obscured or hindered the story rather than enhancing it, their superficiality conflicting with the grander aims of the book.
I'm sure this isn't what Crews intended but nonetheless it's how I viewed it.

Although I thought the book had its problems I still think that Harry Crews has talent and therefore I intend to read some of his other work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deep Southern whackos, November 15, 2009

By 

A. Drugay "Space Traveler, Part-Time Genius, ... (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scar Lover (Paperback)

Twisted Southern gothic, this time with Rastas. Crews' usual gang of swampland nutjobs trying in whacked-out ways to make sense of things. The writing is slow-moving in parts, which only underscores the boggy, ganja-filled world of death and magic. Tries a little too hard to work the "scars" theme throughout. Not my favorite Crews book but better than meh. Try Feast of Snakes if you're looking for an intro to his writing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as his others, February 8, 2006

By 

trainreader (Montclair, N.J.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scar Lover (Paperback)

While I see that other reviewers consider "Scar Lover" to be one of Crews' best, I don't really feel the same way. Sure, all the Crews elements are in place: bizarre characters, redemptive powers (here fire, scars and love), and gritty southern hyper-realism, but I just don't find "Scar Lover" to be nearly as compelling as "The Knockout Artist" or "Feast of Snakes," as funny as "Body," or as entertaining and strange as "The Mulching of America."

My favorite scenes in the book are the interaction between main character Pete and either Max Winekoff -- an annoying old man who likes to bend and touch the floor, or George -- a ganga-smoking Rastaffarian married to basically a dominatrix with whom Pete works unloading cellophane from a box car. However, in my opinion, the love story between Pete and his next door neighbor Sarah, as well as his scenes with angry Gertrude (Sarah's mother, recovering from a double masectomy) and Linga (George's wife) tend to drag. Also, as the book got stranger, I found it harder to suspend disbelief, especially when we're introduced to a cult, headed by Linga, where the members work in a swamp.

I'm a huge Harry Crews fan, based on the novels mentioned above, as well as two novellas: "Car" and "Gypsy's Curse." No one writes quite like Crews, and at his best, his books can be totally engrossing. Unfortunately, though, not here.

Footnote: For fans of Harry Crews, I would also recommend the late Larry Brown (starting with "Joe" and "Fay"), who, by the way, was a big Crews fan.