House of Large Sizes

Once in a while a novel comes along that is very different. House of Large Sizes is such a novel. A dysfunctional, sexually addicted and inauthentic little family finds its failings coming to a head when one member decides to deal with his pain directly and heads to New Orleans for an unsanctioned sex change. They all end up in The French Quarter--in 'the sump of America'--and a great mythic jumble of horrors are visited upon them as a venomous and self-professed witch threatens to run amok. HLS is rare but extraordinarily 'readable' literary work, which draws from multiple genres to produce its sometimes shocking and laser-like effect on the imagination.