Typical: Short Stories

by Padgett Powell

Book Overview

Twenty-three surreal fictions--stories, character assassinations, and mini-travelogues--from one of the most heralded writers of the American SouthThere are many things that repulse "Dr. Ordinary."... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374280223
• ISBN13: 9780374280222
• Release Date: July 1991
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Beckett by way of a hurricane?

I was first exposed to Mr. Powell's writing in a class I'm taking called "Progressive Fiction." Though the book was a bit difficult to find, the pursuit was well worth it. I'm not sure the best way to do this author justice, actually. He has a bit of Beckettian absurdity, but also a Raymond Carver sense of the downtrodden. Putting the two together results in some idiosyncratic insights. I also appreciate that he seems to be a "geographical" writer. His short-short stories with titles like "Texas", "Kansas", South Carolina" evoke a sense of place that really doesn't need more than the 2 or 3 pages he takes to convey it. My favorite stories were the title story, "Mr. Irony" and "Wayne's Fate," but the story "Texas" actually inspired me to write something of my own along the lines he set out. A must-read for any fiction writer as well as any reader who appreciates formal and linguistic play.

Fabulous

Silly sharp word play, gritty settings, piercing problems, and deadly accuracy keep these stories soaring high. A funny, deadpan, searching, and haunting collection by a stylist with a big heart. Yummy.