This Thing Don't Lead to Heaven

From Kirkus Reviews

Mr. Crews' first two novels, The Gospel Singer and Naked In Garden Hills, established him as a superb writer of the absurd. This one has the same bizarre elements. It's set in the "Senior Club," an old people's home run by Axel, an enormous woman dominated by her midget masseur, Jefferson Davis, a dwarf who has convinced everyone that his hands hold the power of life. An accidental newcomer is Carlita, a Spanish-speaking Negro that no one can understand; particularly since her speech is punctuated with voodoo incantations. Jefferson Davis becomes convinced that she can "magic him" to full height. Another arrival is Junior Bledsoe, seller of cemetery plots who struck gold in St. Petersburg and is determined to do the same in the"Club." Every scene is both ridiculous and real, achingly funny and marvelously poignant. The author can make the loss of an old man's last tooth a cameo drama. Unfortunately the ending is abrupt and oddly disappointing. But Mr. Crews is a dazzling, lasting talent.