Customer Reviews

Where Does One Go When There's No Place Left to Go?

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This is a Crews novel printed in 1998 in a limited quantity (426 copies) by a small publisher. Although I suppose it could be read without prior knowledge of Crews' canon, it contains characters from a number of his previous books: Karate is a Thing of the Spirit; Naked in Garden Hills; The Gospel Singer; Car; and All We Need of Hell. It would be best to have read all of these before Where Does One Go...? (I admit I've read all but Naked in Garden Hills.) That said, this is a more dreamlike, playful, self-conscious novel than Crews' usual work. Strange in a different way than all his books are strange. It contains moments of beautiful writing and philosophic dialogue. It is Crews wrestling with his own mind, demons, and characters from his stories. He has a large ensemble cast to manage, and he does it fairly well. The story is a bit anachronistic, especially since it published in 1998, but I guess Crews had been working on it for awhile. It's not as strong as his stronger work (Karate...; A Feast of Snakes; etc), but it's a unique and interesting read full of Crews' dark humor, human/inhuman characters, and surreal goings-ons. I know it's pricey due to its limited copies made, but for the diehard Crews fan I would recommend this book highly. My least favorite Crews is Body and my favorite is Karate...; I would place Where Does One Go...? somewhere in the middle. Worthwhile and would make a great movie if handled right.