Aliens of Affection

by Padgett Powell

Featuring the story of a middle-aged woman who suffers an abrupt emotional estrangement, a collection of gathers nine of the author's recent stories from Esquire, Harper's and other magazines

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Tony]

It is seven hours until the new year begins, and I'm still here, here meaning in the newly-fractured Goodreads, but also, ahem, among the living. That I am here here suggests that I have no place better to be, which is mostly true, or no place I'd rather be, which is not true. Still, I successfully finished, or finished enough, this second collection of (mostly) short pieces by Padgett Powell. Powell is not an acquired taste. Yet his recondite wisdom, disguised in bawdry vignettes, wordplay, and stream-of-consciousness ramblings, suits some. I'm some. I have, for instance, cached some dialogue, for future use:

- -- "What is the matter with you?"
--"Madame, What is not?"

Powell simplifies things:

. . . we would be remiss not to entertain what Coleridge intended to say when he spoke of things visible and not in the universe: people, he tried to say--but couldn't because the Romantic Age disallowed the diction, let alone the sentiment--people are much more a piece of shit than not a piece of shit--

He spoke to me:

I am not a royalist, but I would not mind being king. Is all

Is all.

Powell says things, like the recent above, which seem immediately profound but might not survive a second reading. Such as: I believe in many things, none of which come to mind. I am in arrears pillwise.

But what about the title, you no doubt ask:

"What do aliens of affection do?" he asked, aware only after he did so that he might be forward in his asking.
"We alienate affection," the first alien said.
"There's Cupid and there's us," the second said."

This bouncing around, this recourse to adolescence, these moments of profundity, even clarity, till the vapor, this is how I dream, and sometimes how I go to the grocery store. "You bought what...? What Coleridge said.

Happy New Year!

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read of which I'm sure that I've reviewed at some point before, or in some certain alternate reality. As always, Powell is awesome! I truly love this book & highly recommended it!!!

[David Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an absolute shame that more Southern writers don't list Padgett Powell as a major influence. I think "Wayne" is one of the best short stories I've ever read, and "Scarliotti and the Sinkhole" is one of my favorites. He's absolutely brilliant. If you like Donald Ray Pollock, give Powell a go. I think Pollock is definitely coming out of that vein.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really one of my favorite collections of short stories. I did like the Wayne stories. My second try at his work, and I recall not liking the first time; not sure why I picked this up, except for it was laid out at reading by Singleton and I grabbed it.

[Jamilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

aliens of affection is not just some metaphor.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was my favorite of all the padgett powell books. some blunt, dazzling writing on the charm and insight of idiocy, and the general failure of human beings as emotional animals. a lot of good dialogue between concussed alcoholics, toothless alcoholics, half-witted alcoholics, lonely alcoholics--all fun-loving, of course--and women who don't exist, frumpy store clerks, dogs who don't exist, etc. fantastic, drippy; driver's-seat batshit, too. you'll laugh until you realize you're laughing at how unfortunate and helpless people are.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Padgett Powell's prose is immediately arresting. It grabs your shirt collar and demands that you listen closely! My only regret is that these are short stories rather than full length novels--I'm saddened each time I come to the end of a story and must bid farewell to the quirky characters and the salted world view. To say that Powell is an accomplished writer is to understate his powers entirely.
I would be willing to read his grocery list as I am certain it would be riveting.

UPDATE..I just reread this one and I NEVER reread a book. The short stories in this book are perfectly told.

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book drove me nuts while recovering from botched surgeries, blood clots, cellulitis, etc. Nuts is usually a decent place to be when this country is selling shit you aren't buying. Not for the faint of heart nor the fair of hope. I recommend this for anyone who was/is/will be described at their funeral pyre as "loser" (or from the south).

Dylan meets Hendrix and a fine argument for/against love ensues...

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The two stories that bookend this collection—"Trick or Treat" and "Two Boys"—are the most lyrical and affecting snapshots of male longing for "the transport of erotic tenderness" that I've ever read. Padgett Powell is my new favorite author (this week—I tend to be fickle...). He puts me in mind of the great Charles Portis and the sublime Barry Hannah. Way to go, Padgett!

[Jeff Laughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

'm out of Padgett Piowell to read. This is bad for me.

[R.G. Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Padgett Powell writes sentences that make me want to write sentences the way that Padgett Powell does. I fell in love with You & Me years ago on the recommendation of a review that framed the book as Waiting for Godot set in the American South. The stories in Aliens of Affection do indeed exhibit Beckett's absurd sensibility but the humor inherent in these stories also sees the South as viewed through a Carl Hiaasen-like lens. One character opts out of his mandatory stay at a mental hospital and flees to Mexico on a quest to find a 50 pound chihuahua. Another patrols a mysterious watchtower which he neither remembers being assigned to nor where he is or what he's supposed to do. References accrete throughout each of these stories so that they read at times like a "house that Jack built" loop. There are plots here, too, but they are revealed through some of the most unintentionally unreliable narrators one may encounter. I have to admit I got lost at times in the stream of consciousness circlings back of the language, but I can attest that I laughed out loud several times while reading every one of these stories, a fine testimonial to Powell's twisted fiction.

[Ned Andrew Solomon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book after reading high praise from Kevin Wilson, whose novels and short stories are quirky but excellent - a fantastic combination! - but was supremely let down. One story in the collection - Wayne - was somewhat intriguing, but the rest of the book was, to me, unreadable. Simply awful. A contender for the book I most wanted to throw across the room and stomp on.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

At least half the stories in the book were over written and serve as examples of how a talented writer can fall in love with strings of observations and wordplay that confuses and fails to provide any insight. Reading them felt like a waste of my time

[Bayneeta]

I subscribe to The Writer's Almanac. Elizabeth Berg talked about it at book promotion event I attended. Everyday they send me a poem and a few short articles about historical events or authors who are connected to that particular day. A couple of weeks ago the author Padgett Powell came up. I didn't know him but Flannery O'Conner was mentioned, as were southern rednecks, so I figured I'd give him a try. The first couple of stories were okay, I could see southern rednecks and Flannery O'Conner alright and then it all just became bizarre stream of consciousness and I couldn't make heads nor tails out of it. But I figured these are short stories, the next one will make sense. Well, not to me. Strange. But not in a good way!

"The ramparts about the Silly Castle would begin to crumble quickly. Life is sidewalk. Sidewalk is more crack than walk. All walk is side walk. Wabash, Wabash cannonball, downtown to the soul-food mall, not chitterlings but Nikes."

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

so funny and so weird. these stories clicked with me way more than the ones in Typical did. a lot of great quotes but they work so much better in stories, so just one good one for the review:

“If you are afraid of everything, you are finally not afraid of anything. It is when you presume to not be afraid of a few things that the terror creeps in. The terror resides in correctly identifying what you are afraid of and what you are not afraid of. The absolute fearful person is in an absolute and comfortable position: against the ropes, ready for it all. The presumer, the poseur of courage is looking left, right, behind himself, trembling.” (From Wayne)

[James DiGiovanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Powell writes amazing and weird stories in the third person that explore characters that seem entirely real and entirely original. Powell writes awful, indulgent stories in the first person that try hard to escape from the demands of narrative but just fall into a kind of navel-gazing beatnik ramble. Too many of the latter in this volume.

[Count No Count · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you remember that 80s sitcom about the majority of high placed U.S. politicians voting pro-Apartheid? Well the times they are a changing back.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories. I've only read the first story so far. Based on how strange the first story is, I'm looking forward to the others.

[wally · Rating 5 out of 5]

go wayne!

[PAULINE]

"Joplin and Dickens" - heard 4/22/18 on Selected Shorts and liked it! want to read...