Sanctuary by William Faulkner

This novel improved vastly from the first to the second reading. This time around I found more humor (especially from the Snopes side of things) and more humanity (in Popeye, of all people). While not as beautiful as Faulkner's better work, and definitely written to titillate (and make money), this book manages to confront questions of gender and sexuality in what is not a delicate, but is probably a thoughtful way.