Typical - by Padgett Powell (Paperback)

About the Book

Twenty-three surreal fictions--stories, character assassinations, and mini-travelogues--from one of the most heralded writers of the American South
There are many things that repulse "Dr. Ordinary." "Kansas" is notable for its distinct lack of farmland. "Wayne's Fate" is most unfortunate, not merely for Wayne but for the roofer pal who stands by watching his good buddy lose his head. "Miss Resignation" simply cannot win at Bingo. And there is nothing "Typical" about the unemployed steelworker and self-described "piece of crud" who strides through this collection's title story.
Welcome to the world of Padgett Powell, one of the most original American literary voices in recent memory. Typical is both a bravura demonstration of Powell's passion for words, and an offbeat, perceptive view of contemporary life--an enthralling work by a one-of-a-kind wordsmith, and a redefinition of what short fiction can be.

Book Synopsis

Twenty-three surreal fictions--stories, character assassinations, and mini-travelogues--from one of the most heralded writers of the American South
There are many things that repulse "Dr. Ordinary." "Kansas" is notable for its distinct lack of farmland. "Wayne's Fate" is most unfortunate, not merely for Wayne but for the roofer pal who stands by watching his good buddy lose his head. "Miss Resignation" simply cannot win at Bingo. And there is nothing "Typical" about the unemployed steelworker and self-described "piece of crud" who strides through this collection's title story.
Welcome to the world of Padgett Powell, one of the most original American literary voices in recent memory. Typical is both a bravura demonstration of Powell's passion for words, and an offbeat, perceptive view of contemporary life--an enthralling work by a one-of-a-kind wordsmith, and a redefinition of what short fiction can be.

Review Quotes

"A sparkling collection." --Time
"Powell takes short stories to places where I've rarely seen them go." --Chicago Tribune
"Powerful . . . Powell has an almost unequaled ability to bring Southern colloquial speech to the page." --The New York Times
"Lyrically intense and full of the surreal juxtapositions you find in the flotsam of floodwaters: stories at once edgy and exuberant." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Padgett Powell is the author of six novels, including Edisto, which was nominated for the National Book Award, and two collections of stories. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, and the Paris Review, as well as in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Sports Writing. He has received a Whiting Writers' Award, the Rome Fellowship in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He lives in Gainesville, Florida, where he teaches at MFA@FLA, the writing program of the University of Florida.