- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Poseidon Pr (February 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671744895
- ISBN-13: 978-0671744892
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.7 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #926,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
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.
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.
-Brack Stovall, Carrollton P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Pete Butcher had not meant to speak to her. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Pete Butcher had not meant to speak to her. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Has some moments, but overall flawed.,
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. 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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique Portrait of Love,
By
This review is from: Scar Lover (Paperback)
'Scar Lover' is one of Harry Crews's best works. With his eccentric characters and off-beat humor, he weaves this tale of an emotionally lost man finding his way slowly back to life and love. Pete Butcher is a loner, living in a boarding house in Jacksonville, Florida. He avoids contact with people for deeper reasons than we first suspect. Seemingly against his will, Pete is pulled into the lives of the strange neighbors next door. The first one he meets is Sarah Leemer, a tall, beautiful, mysterious girl with a few problems of her own. She lives with her parents who are equally strange. As she draws Pete into her life, we begin to see the changes she affects in him. His life which was empty soon begins to fill again. Crews introduces us to his usual array of odd southern folks and a Jamaican couple George and Linga find their way in as well. The story is often touching in little ways, and we never stop hoping that Pete somehow finds some happiness. The title 'Scar Lover' is very fitting, as each character has been scarred in different ways, emotionally and physically. Harry Crews is an accomplished writer who deserves more recognition.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, Romantic, Raw Exposure of Human Condition,
By jodiva@yahoo.com (Dallas,TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Scar Lover (Paperback)
Crews is a tremendous writer, able to capture the blood and guts of humanity. he apologizes for nothing and realizes truth for what it is - wretched, beautiful, shameful, and proud. for me the most wonderful point in the story was when the hero made the almost instant desicion to stay with the heroine and her family no matter the consequences. a true testament of how a man's mind often operates; quickly and without a lot of forethought (and this is not an insult - it's just truth). enchanting. possibly my favorite book!
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