Cirrus@Austlit

Humphery discusses Crew's novels as a means of introducing young readers 'to important elements of style and literary techniques while at the same time immersing them in the wonderfully rich world of English literature'. Crewe's novels deliberately blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy as well as providing a 'much-needed bridge between popular culture and the traditional classics' and in this sense, his signifiers are highly provisional with the appeal of his work arising from the continual flickering, spilling and diffusing of meaning' (37). As novels of adolescent self-discovery, Humphery points out that 'the rites of passage are carried out within a framework which explores far-reaching historical, political, moral and religious values (37).