Edisto: A Novel (FSG Classics)
Truly remarkable ... 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, and more poignant -- Walker Percy 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 -- Richard Eder Los Angeles Times Sly, pungent, lyric, funny, and unlikely to be forgotten -- R. Z. Sheppard Time A tour de force ... I found myself increasingly charmed by the book's wit and impressed by its originality. 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 nearly every page. Powell's ear is acute: one of the pleasures of the book is his ability to catch the nuances of Southern speech, whether it is the malicious conversation of the Doctor's academic colleagues at a cocktail party or the genial banter of country folks at the fishing pier New York Review of Books Simons Manigault is brother to all literary adolescents-Mailer's D.J., Salinger's Holden Caufield, Joyce's Stephen Dedalus ... Edisto is a sparkling read, so full of an energetic intelligence, inventiveness, love of language, and love of people ... Padgett Powell is an extravagantly talented writer -- Ron Loewinsohn The New York Times Book Review Edisto is a startling book, full of new sights, sounds, and ways if feeling. Mr. Powell weaves wonderful tapestries from ordinary speech; his people, black and white, whether speaking to each other or past each other, tells 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 Reading 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 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 Powell's voice reminded me very much of Zelda Fitzgerald's unique and delicious turns of phrase in this deft and appealing bildungsroman -- Lesley McDowell Sunday Herald Line-for-line it's rarely less than laconically funny, and hardly a paragraph goes by without a poetic perception worthy of a latter-day Huck Finn. -- Alfred Hickling Guardian Compelling ... a coming of age tale to rank alongside those of Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn. -- David Evans Independent on Sunday--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.