Edisto Revisited

by Padgett Powell

In the sequel to Powell’s acclaimed debut, Edisto, Simons Manigault is older—if not particularly wiser—and searching for the cure to his restlessness in memory, travel, and forbidden love

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.
Padgett Powell’s literary return to Edisto is as outrageous, witty, and bitingly sharp as its predecessor. Readers who adored their first meeting with Simons Manigault will relish a second helping of his ennui and bad behavior. Newcomers will likewise be heartily glad they made the trip. 

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Novels

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 1996

About the author

Padgett Powell is the author of four novels, including Edisto, which was nominated for the National Book Award. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper’s, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications, as well as in the anthologies Best American Short Stories and Best American Sports Writing. He lives in Gainesville, Florida, where he teaches writing at MFA@FLA, the writing program of the University of Florida.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nearly as good, maybe as fucking good, who knows...? as Edisto, yes, it is. Powell's a hell of a writer in all he does. I like the way his career seems to head away from any trace of realism and capitalize on his language-drunk alchemy (but I do wish he'd write more on Edisto, simons and his voice...what a voice!)

[Moses Kilolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked especially the strength of his narrative voice.

But the main character is broken and apparently unwilling to fight what may be called the "good fight." Its hard to say whether he is likable or not. I feel I didn't like him too much.He commits incest, is ineptly patronized by his mother, drinks himself crazy and he displays his cowardice openly. But that's just being human. Or is it?

One can't help but notice how well tied in the story is at the end. And that prose, simply beautiful.

[keith koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent short novel. Powell is a clever fellow, and a keen wordsmith, and this cynical little tale of slacking and debauchery in the American Southeast. Takes the door prize for most literate and sarcastic, likable yet snide modern tale.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The wawer, the wawer.

Loved the writing at the time. Didn't really get it though.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to Edisto finds Simons grown and graduated from Clemson, my alma mater. He returns to Edisto, one of my favorite SC beach retreats. Simons has not become a great writer. Instead, he's an architect by degree. He falls for his cousin with his mother's assistance. This story is a great hideaway tale, for Simons has his incestuous fling and flees to Corpus Christi with a business partner to make a living there fishing. When fishing fails and the partnership dissolves, Powell sends Simons to New Orleans to seek out and face Taurus, his mother's former lover and a brief father surrogate to Simons. But Simons must return again to Edisto and redeem himself to Patricia Hod, his lover/cousin. This book matches the brilliant voice of Edisto, but Simons has changed. Powell's book is an excellent, quick read full of humor and rich with language. Powell's syntax is interesting and compelling, even when the story veers off into Texas. I believe I prefer the first one, but I recommend and love Edisto Revisited and plan to read it again soon.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

We revisit one-m Simons in a similar way the first novel did: back then, Simons was in transition, on the lip of puberty and in the midst of trying to figure out the larger world. This time, Simons is fresh out of school, aimless and unsure of the architecture he majored in, and still trying to figure out the larger world. With both books, there was also a transition of sorts from the old South to whatever the new one is, and this one in particular also seems to suggest these books being a transition into the new southern literature.

Whatever that is. Powell doesn't give us answers, because why should a novel present any answers? Simons is on a journey, and thus so are we.

[Count No Count · Rating 2 out of 5]

The thing about salt is that one tablespoon (or three if you've entered into one of those popular water drinking competitions) will do for what ails you. Were this a book, you'd understand the science of this proposition. One Edisto is enough to replace lost electrolytes. Two Edistoes is one too many.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little novel picks up several years after Powell's first novel, Edisto, left off. The protagonist, Simons Manigault, is now a college graduate and pondering the purpose of his life. Padgett Powell's descriptive imagery of the low country coast of South Carolina are ever present. I enjoyed this book as much as I did his first novel.

[Star Merrill · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an exercise in frustration. The author was trying to impress people with his knowledge of seldom used words. I wasn't impressed. If I have to sit with a dictionary beside me , then my pleasure at reading has diminished to nil. Lugubrious, gey ... seriously? Also, when I did read some comprehensible passages, they were bland and boring.

[Jeff Laughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable, but a bit too grandiose toward the middle. I still love it, but it's not Powell's best idea. The same character from Edisto, only decades later.

[what's up with ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently he hated his protagonist from the first novel because he killed him dead in this one.

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

More "adventures" of Simons, the hero of Edisto. Funny, smart and sweet all at the same time. It's also nice to find good short books to read on an airplane or camp trip.

[wally · Rating 5 out of 5]

really liked it.

[Amanda Nan Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simons' voice truly sucked me into this quick novel. I'm also a sucker for any book that has southern dialect and landmarks that I can truly picture in my head.

[Jerry-Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14814120