Edisto by Padgett Powell

Edisto

Padgett Powell

The protagonist is a precocious adolescent in a dysfunctional middle class family, growing up in the black community of South Carolina. This is a challenging novella which I re-read in quick succession to capture the true nuances of its rich language, and to relive the memory of reading ‘Catcher in the Rye’ for the first time.

Extract
One time I said: 'I’m worried, Theenie.'
'What choo worrit about.' Not a question, a denial of my right or cause to worry, against the larger monopoly of adult rights.
‘Puberty.' I looked at her to see if it worked. She looked like a horse in a stall wondering whether to kick a careless stable boy, eyes orbiting in quick white slices like quarter moons.
'I’m worried about this thing called puberty.'
'You scudgin’ me. Why you wont to grind me, Sim?' …
Parallels
  • Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
  • Anything by by William Faulkner
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Explicit sexual content