Padgett Powell Libri

Exploring diverse themes and experiences, this collection showcases pieces from three decades of Padgett Powell's writing. It begins with an adventurous trip to the World Armwrestling Federation Championships in Sweden and culminates in a reflection on his lifelong fascination with the indigo snake. The narrative includes autobiographical insights from his upbringing in the South, tributes to influential writers, and an elegy for his pit bull, Spode. Powell's unique voice and playful style illuminate his deep curiosity and reverence for storytelling.

Fourteen years after we first met Simons Manigault, our protagonist is newly graduated from Clemson University, bored, unfocused, and idling his summer away at his mother’s home in Edisto, South Carolina. Not yet ready to fully embrace adulthood, Simons finds himself surrendering to cynicism, as well as to the temptations of his “turned-out-well” first cousin, Patricia.To avoid sinking further into his rut, Simons embarks on a road trip through the South. After a disastrous stint as a Corpus Christi fisherman, he exits the Lone Star State, doubling back to the Louisiana bayou to spend some quality time with his former friend and mentor—and his mother’s ex-lover—Taurus. But as even Taurus’s once sought-after wisdom wears thin, Simons begins to suspect that the grass is not greener on the other side—it may be burnt, brown, and dead wherever he goes.

Are your emotions pure? Are your nerves adjustable? How do you stand in relation to the potato? Should it still be Constantinople? Does a nameless horse make you more nervous or less nervous than a named horse? In your view, do children smell good? Does your doorbell ever ring? Through the series of questions, this title intends to light up life.

A classic account of the language, culture, and traditions of the Celts.

Sie begehren auf gegen vorgestanzte Lebensmuster. Sie provozieren, irritieren, stören. Sie trinken und lügen. Sie setzen alles aufs Spiel. Padgett Powells Figuren eint der tägliche Kampf gegen den Absturz, gegen Wahnsinn und Delirium. Ein Mann, der auf einer Mauer patrouillierend den Schrottplatz gebrochener Herzen bewacht; ein zwölfjähriger Knirps, der der reifen, gelangweilten Mrs Hollingworth unziemliche Avancen macht; der Dachdecker Wayne, der Frau und Kinder verlässt und sich im weiten amerikanischen Süden zu verlieren droht. »Das Leben ist Flaute«, heißt es in einer Story, doch nichts stimmt weniger für Powells trotzige Helden. Das Leben ist Aufruhr, und niemand könnte besser davon erzählen, rotzig, neurotisch, abgrundtief komisch, als Padgett Powell.