Edisto (1984) by Padgett Powell

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

Edisto (1984)

by Padgett Powell

Edisto Island, South Carolina

South Carolina: 10/14

   Edisto was the debut novel from Padgett Powell. It was nominated as a finalist in 1984 for the National Book Award and that was just about the peak of Powell's literary prominence despite five more novels over the years- including a sequel to this book, Edisto Revisited, published in 1996.  Edisto is a conventional bildungsroman written from the perspective of Everson Manigault, living with his eccentric, semi-single Mother, "The Doctor" (she's a professor) in a ramshackle model home of a beach house on the South Carolina coast.  The plot is coming-of-age 101, but Everson is a class above your normal teen, American narrator, with a wit and verve that bring to mind an 80's era hipster more than the struggling son of a (well-educated) single mom with a drinking problem.  Of course, where would the bildungsroman even be without inattentive parenting.

    I was also challenged by the modernist flourishes introduced by Powell- removing narrative guardrails and leaving the reader guessing about what was actually going on throughout large portions of the plot. "Challenging" describes almost none of the books in the 1,001 Novels project, so having to go back and re-read certain chapters really stood out to me during my reading experience.