Crews has been one of my favorite writers for years. I’ve been on a quest the last few years to hunt down his out of print 70s novels, in fact.

Without Crews’ lean, cockeyed prose, Broken Piano for President would not be the book it is. Many times, while writing it, I’d look at a portion and realize it would probably make Harry Crews nauseous. I would rewrite until I felt it was as tough and as funny as his work. (Which is impossible, his stuff wipes its boots on my best output, but still.)

Here’s one of my favorite audio interviews.