When Powell’s first novel, Edisto (1984), was reviewed by critics, many praised Powell. For example, Ron Loewinsohn of the New York Times praises him as “an extravagantly talented writer.” Once a student of the post-modernist author Donald Barthelme, Powell incorporates occasional experimental methods, which are both admired and criticized. Overall though, he is regarded as a southern writer with a flair for lush language, southern dialect, humor, and original ideas. T. Coraghessan Boyle, in a review of A Woman Named Drown for the New York Times Book Review, admires Powell’s “distinctive, understated humor.” A People Weekly review by Campbell Geeslin of the same novel agrees, calling Powell “very funny.” In a review of Typical, Powell’s first collection of short stories, Amy Hempel, praises Powell’s command of the short form, as well as his...