Alabama Booksmith

Description

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A novel that has drawn comparisons with the work of J. D. Salinger, Truman Capote, and Flannery O’Connor, Edisto centers on one Simons Everson Manigault, a twelve-year-old possessed of a vocabulary and sophistication way beyond his years and a preadolescent bewilderment with the behavior of adults. These include his mother, who is known as the Duchess, and his enigmatic father-surrogate, Taurus. Imbued with a strong sense of place—an isolated strip of South Carolina coast called Edisto—Padgett Powell’s novel is “truly remarkable . . . both as a narrative and in its extraordinary use of language” (Walker Percy).

Padgett Powell’s most recent novel is Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men. He lives in Gainesville, Florida.

A novel that has drawn comparisons with the work of J. D. Salinger, Truman Capote, and Flannery O’Connor, Edisto centers on one Simons Everson Manigault, a twelve-year-old possessed of a vocabulary and sophistication way beyond his years and a preadolescent bewilderment with the behavior of adults. These include his mother, who is known as the Duchess, and his enigmatic father-surrogate, Taurus. Imbued with a strong sense of place—an isolated strip of South Carolina coast called Edisto—Padgett Powell’s first novel is acclaimed for its resonant language and characters. "A tour de force . . . Some turn of phrase, some flash of humor, some freshly observed detail, some accurately rendered perception of a child's pain or a child's amazement, transfigures every page."—Robert Towers, The New York Review of Books

"Simons Manigault is brother to all literary adolescents—Mailer's D. J., Salinger's Holden Caulfield, Joyce's Stephen Dedalus . . . A sparkling read, so full of an energetic intelligence, inventiveness, love of language, and love of people."—Ron Loewinsohn, The New York Times Book Review

"A remarkable book . . . there is not a line that simply slides by; each, in one way or another, turns things to a fresh and unexpected angle. There are splendid things said."—Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Edisto is a truly remarkable first novel, both as a narrative and in its extraordinary use of language. It reminds one of The Catcher In The Rye, but it's better—sharper, funnier, more poignant."—Walker Percy

"Edisto is a startling book, full of new sights, sounds, and ways of feeling. Mr. Powell weaves wonderful tapestries from ordinary speech; his people, Black and White, whether speaking to each other or past each other, tell us things that we never heard before. The book is subtle, daring, and brilliant."—Donald Barthelme

"Powell creates a language that captures rhythms and reflections that are at once original and true."—Peter S. Prescott, Newsweek

"Wonderfully funny, with an exotic dash of Flannery O'Connor, an echo of Tennessee Williams, a faint whiff of Truman Capote, and a lot of originality."—People

"Rereading Edisto fifteen to twenty years later, I reacted exactly the same way: caught in the headlights and grateful for not being run over. Line for line, the best first novel I've ever read."—Pete Dexter, author of Paris Trout

About the Author

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Padgett Powell’s most recent novel is Mrs. Hollingsworth’s Men.