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You & Me: A Novel

by Padgett Powell

3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 · rating details · 186 ratings · 64 reviews

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ebook, 208 pages

Published July 31st 2012 by Ecco (first published January 1st 2011)

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Aug 30, 2012 Nathan "N.R." Gaddis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can't. Not now. I won't. Tomorrow, maybe, if those damn codgers don't get me first.

No worries. These cats'll still be around tomorrow. And the trolls have done in all those codgers, from what I hear.

That's what's got me worried. All those cats.

Well?

Yes, I am. Woke up dead. . .never better. Oh, right, the book. I read it.

Me too. Imagine that, $24 US and all that white space. Must be some kind of performance art.

I think so. And that flourish of the pen when he inscribed all that white space, tha...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Mugren Ohaly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

A novel, although it is a bit more poetic. It's the story of two "dudes" who sit and talk about things. That's what the book is, them talking. It's brilliant and I love the chemistry the two characters have. It's quite humorous too.

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Aug 05, 2012 Mythili rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“You are incoherent, almost,” one of the unnamed speakers in Padgett Powell’s You & Me blurts out at one point. It’s just one of many apt observations in this book of meandering dialogue. Echoing the stripped-down, conversation-driven absurdist approach of Waiting for Godot, Powell’s latest work features two dueling voices trading stories, reminiscences, and half-plotted theories about just about everything. Haircuts, malaria, Jayne Mansfield, literary theory, flying dogs, Juicy Fruit, Gila...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Travis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had heard of Padgett Powell before reading this, because he was a mentor of Kevin Canty (one of my own mentors, and one of my favorite writers) at the University of Florida. He Even blurbed Canty's A STRANGER IN THIS WORLD (a debut book of short stories whose whose greatness is kind of undeniable). I remember Powell's blurb well enough to paraphrase it without finding the book on my shelf--it's something like: "There's a new literary genius every week, and this week it might as well be Kevin C...more I had heard of Padgett Powell before reading this, because he was a mentor of Kevin Canty (one of my own mentors, and one of my favorite writers) at the University of Florida. He Even blurbed Canty's A STRANGER IN THIS WORLD (a debut book of short stories whose whose greatness is kind of undeniable). I remember Powell's blurb well enough to paraphrase it without finding the book on my shelf--it's something like: "There's a new literary genius every week, and this week it might as well be Kevin Canty."

Which is kind of great, kind of funny, but also a little mean-spirited and insensitive. After all, your former student has just written something great, and you can't just give it an honest-to-goodness blurb, but instead have to turn said blurb into a cultural critique, and get in and out of the blurb without actually saying anything nice about the book? Yeesh, a little bothersome. My other interaction with Powell comes in the form of a rejection letter from FLA MFA. Probably the only MFA school that sends something akin to an actual rejection letter, which prominently features Powell's signature. Anyone who's gotten one of these letters can attest that there's something very annoying about it. His cursive is a little too perfect, something in the curves of his a's and s's makes it clear that this is a writer with ego. Also, the sentiment is kind of like, "thanks but no thanks, but hey, here's a Padgett Powell autograph for a souvenir."

Which is all fine and good. A little ego isn't a bad thing, if the writer backs it up on the page. After reading YOU & ME, I can definitively say that Powell does not.

What this book reminded me of, in a good way (hence the begrudging three stars) is a half drunk 3 AM conversation, among two students (pals!) at an MFA program. Both of these characters (the book is one long back and forth dialogue, without the benefit of quotation marks, between two older men) are a bit bummish, somewhat smart (but not smart enough to make sense of the world), and kind of in love with their own bullshit. You get the sense that they're even trying out story ideas, trying to upstage one another. If you've been to MFA land--and if you're reading Padgett Powell you probably have--then the conversation is sure to sound something like home. From the outset, I found myself laughing, feeling nostalgic, really enjoying myself.

The problem is the conversation NEVER ENDS. The pleasant landscape of the book quickly transforms into a kind of hell. These are old guys, after all. Maybe they were endearing MFA students once upon a time, but they never left, never grew up. They've gone on shooting the shit long, long, long after it was dead (which admittedly was promised on the book cover). If this all sounds fun, I promise you it isn't. It all stops being entertaining around page 80--the last two thirds of this are a real grind. There's also a weirdly racist snippet toward the end. What I made of that was Powell himself was stepping in and saying--"Hey idiot, you still here? Not only have I insulted your intelligence, but now I'm going to go ahead and insult your sensibilities."

Which, yeah, all in all, kind of makes sense. At its heart this book is a little mean spirited. But it's mean spirited toward, and disdainful of, the reader, which isn't something I can get behind or respect, at all. I certainly can't recommend YOU & ME as an entertainment, but I suppose for the reader who is nostalgic for the kind of conversation that happened late at night in MFA land, and who has 20 or 30 bucks to drop on a book and is willing to drop that kind of money for a book they probably won't finish--I know this is a very rare reader indeed--I would say go out and get this one. There you have it.

I received an ARC copy of this book as part of a Goodreads FirstReads promotional giveaway.

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Jul 08, 2012 Nancy Goldberg Wilks rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you're looking for a humorous book to read this summer, pick up YOU & ME, a novel by Padgett Powell. A modern day WAITING FOR GODOT, YOU & ME chronicles the conversations between two men, sitting on a porch somewhere between Bakersfield, California and Jacksonville, Florida. The men use a methodology akin to a modern day Socrates. The topics selected for discussion run from the profound -- e.g., how to live everyday as if it's your last -- to the mundane -- e.g., walking to the nearby...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Steve Gripp rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If Grumpy Old Men read Beckett and Faulkner religiously. Very inquisitive, stream of consciousness-type writing. Bold, ribald (I stole this word from the jacket – hey, I liked the choice!) and obsessively discursive, these two men search for meaning of anything in their daily discourse. From the crux of this book, it’s just two men rambling, hence the title, however, where they go with their tangential ramblings is what makes this novel inspiring. I feel a little out of date with some of the ref...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: funny-stuff, southern-lit

Picture two dudes sitting on a front porch (I'm pretty sure one of them is Padgett), shooting the shit for 200 pages, about everything from made-up heroes (with names like Studio Becalmed), mens underwear, the Salvation Army, the afterlife, going insane, dogs, drinking, and living each day of your life as if it was the last. In other words, it's both deep and shallow. When the conversation is deep, there's a funny we-don't-know-what-we're-talking-about wink to it. When it's shallow, it's more li...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Genevieve rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In my mind, there's nothing wrong with being vulgar. But there IS something wrong with being pretentiously vulgar. I feel as though juxtaposing meta themes with base human behavior has been done before, and in ways that are far less smug and self-congratulatory than this.

There is real depth and humor here, of course, so it was still a worthwhile read. I want to commit much of the men's exchange to memory. How strange is it, though, to see individuals characterized as "old"--two people wrestling...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Megan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one

As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Applying this maxim to literary criticism seems apropros in the case of this book. Sometimes crap is just crap. Sam Beckett called, he wants his 1st draft of Waiting for Godot back--so he can shred it. I think this book was an exercise in seeing how long the author could sit and tap out semi-coherent sentences, while legally drunk, before falling over. About ten minutes from what I can tell. Funny? No. In the sad days of the tarnished and falling...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Padgett Powell follows up The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? w/ another high concept literary frolic which operates from a literary degree zero. Two "weirdly agreeable dudes" sit on a porch and talk. Where the unrelated questions in The Interrogative Mood allowed Padgett to suddenly go in any direction whatever unbeholden to anything that had come before, the dialogues in You & Me likewise can go of in any direction whatever at any moment. This is writing that is wildly free while at once bein...more

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Jul 22, 2012 wally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: powell

in the mid to late 80s i knew padgett powell, sat in, took up space in, his class...twice. this, shortly after the publication of his 1st novel, edisto, that he signed for me, 1985, there at the goehring's bookstore on 13th street in gainesville.

you might not be able to see it on the cover/dust-jacket, but those two figures at the bottom of the ampersand, two figures in silhouette, their back to the reader, the one on the right with a cane, the other turned slightly toward the elder, slightly hu...more

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Aug 19, 2012 John Pappas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Purported to be a modern day "Waiting for Godot" this novel? prose-play?, entirely dialogue driven, features short vignettes of two voices-- two older men who contemplate leaving their porch to walk down the street to the liquor store, but who never do -- discussing a host of topics, trivial and profound. Mostly, they amuse and console each other through conversation, mythologizing and wishful thinking. Unlike "Godot", there is no strong sense of the omnipresence of death, the abyss or the void...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Fred rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To say this novel is an unconventional one does not quite capture it's essence. In fact, the same may be said about the notion that this work is a novel at all. This book is comprised of seemingly random though often esoteric dialog between two characters. These men remain unnamed, yet as the work progresses we begin to know them through this dialog. There is no real plot, there is no real action. And yet, Powell captivates the reader. If you are one who dog-ears pages for their particular insig...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Vanessa Catania rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book with great antipation because of the wonderful things I have heard about this author and his previous novel (and because I was lucky enough to win it on Goodreads). I have spent the last four days forcing myself to read this book. I knew that if I stopped reading it I would not pick it up again. Perhaps it is not my writing style or perhaps it was because I had to go back and reread excerpts so that I could understand what was going on, whatever the reason I did not enjoy t...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's Waiting for Godot… But without Godot. Or should I say, even less Godot than the original play? This lack of drive for the two porch-dwellers in Powell's new novel can, and does for a little bit, make the forward motion of this book a little vacant, but Powell gifts us in the best moments with the kind of Barthelme-like mastery he's certainly earned. Be ready for a total lack of narrative, and long stretches of unattributed dialogue. The exchanges are funny, blistered at times with utter sad...more

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Jul 01, 2012 wally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: powell

i read this story before i got it in the mail today...high five...

this version..."first published as you + i by serpent's tail, an imprint of profile books ltd, london." etc

portions also appears in harper's, little star...(i suspect it is one of those magazines)...mcsweeney's, subtropics (another?)...and on narrativemagazine.com

dedicated for amanda dahl...who loved forty-four (a daughter, i believe...has anyone dedicated a book to their dog?)

has a couple quotes on white pages before it all begin...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Josh Mlot rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It took me a little while to write my thoughts on this book because I really wasn't sure how I felt about it. At times it was great and at other times it felt overwrought and a bit pompous.

"You & Me" had its moments of great humor that had me laughing out loud, but if you're looking for a riveting story, don't bother. This isn't a story in the traditional sense, rather it's the passing of time between two men sitting around and musing on life and its meaning. There's no plot driving the page...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Harley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Life will not be explained; sweep away the evidence.”
And as it were, Powell’s “You And Me” lumbers an amphetaminic tarantella through profuse, express-way aphorism and that indelicate gafflegab which instructs the pages of Lewis Carroll’s beloved relic of a sweetheart. Powell exercises, with unmolested profundity, a romanticism of the absurd quotidian go-arounds, bedecking his booze-soaped interlocutors with wit, pith, and a most sparkling cynicism – from Judy Garland to Julia Child, to crooke...more

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Jul 11, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: funny-stuff, free-books, fictional, collectible-collections, philosophy-life

First off, let me just say that this isn’t the typical style of book that I read, I’ve decided to try and expand my book shelf with new writers and new genres. This book comes across as more or less disorganized chaos, no chapters, no plot, the entire book is a discussion between two men in the south just hanging out passing time. Or perhaps the conversation is taking place between three or more people, or for a suspenseful thriller aspect, maybe there is only one person.

Having spent a great dea...more First off, let me just say that this isn’t the typical style of book that I read, I’ve decided to try and expand my book shelf with new writers and new genres. This book comes across as more or less disorganized chaos, no chapters, no plot, the entire book is a discussion between two men in the south just hanging out passing time. Or perhaps the conversation is taking place between three or more people, or for a suspenseful thriller aspect, maybe there is only one person.

Having spent a great deal of time in the south this book is very reminiscent of the types of conversations you might over hear while walking down the street or standing in line. Sporadic conversation that jumps from subject to subject, the only point is talking, regardless of topic. Talking for the sake of talking. A conversation that starts out with comments about the weather, crosses over into sports, did you see that thing on TV, how’s the family, a brief memory from childhood, hunting advice, and then see you later. Completely and totally random conversations about random topics and whatever happens to pop up into your mind mid-sentence.

There are a few parts of the book where it seems to drag by but overall it flows pretty well. There are a lot of jokes, a lot of ridiculous statements, and some rather strange and unusual viewpoints. There were times that I laughed, laughed a lot, and times where I looked forward to turning the pages and getting past certain dialogue. Not because it was offensive or anything, but some parts of the conversation just came across as a little boring or uninteresting to me - not many though. There are also a few moments where I found myself comparing what I read to a philosophy book due to the depth and profound statements.

It is unusual, it is funny, it is quirky, it is strange, but overall I have to say that it’s a pretty good book. I’m glad I got a chance to read it, especially since I wouldn’t have picked it up on my own. If you’re looking for a short fun read, pick this up - if you’re looking for a deep novel with a complex plot pass. If you have trouble reading this book cover to cover, try turning to a random page and reading for a while, chances are good you will start laughing. I would have to rate this book either 3.8(ish) or about a 4.2, so I will give it a solid 4.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Goodreads first-reads for the early release copy(less)

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Mar 25, 2012 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The blurb on the inner cover of the dust jacket describes this book as 'a conversation, apparently on a porch, by two men who may be difficult to grasp'. Which is odd because having now finished the book, I don't recall a porch being mentioned in the text. Perhaps that's why the blurb-writer wrote 'apparently'. But why mention a porch at all?

Two guesses: because it locates Powell's writing within a Southern tradition of which the author himself is not unaware ('You sound like William Faulkner.'...more The blurb on the inner cover of the dust jacket describes this book as 'a conversation, apparently on a porch, by two men who may be difficult to grasp'. Which is odd because having now finished the book, I don't recall a porch being mentioned in the text. Perhaps that's why the blurb-writer wrote 'apparently'. But why mention a porch at all?

Two guesses: because it locates Powell's writing within a Southern tradition of which the author himself is not unaware ('You sound like William Faulkner.' / 'Mr. Bill? Why thank you.'); and because it gives us a context in which to visualise what follows, as if it were something as familiar as a dramatic dialogue where a pair of old codgers look out upon society and pronounce judgement upon the world while sipping bourbon and chewing tobacco.

It isn’t quite that simple. For one thing, there are no speech marks, and there are no words in the book other than what we assume these men are saying. Why do we assume they’re speaking to one another? Because of the style. One asks a question and the other responds. But sometimes they are responding to one another and sometimes not. Perhaps it is better to assume that they are talking across one another.

There is a loose structure to the book. Each sequence of dialogue begins with a statement or a prompt, or sometimes a question reminiscent of ‘The Interrogative Mood’. For the most part they have a pleasant weight and good humour to them reminiscent of Gertrude Stein:

‘I have lost my mind, I am comfortable with having lost my mind, and I plan on having my mind stay lost.’

‘I’m just a mouthful of pyjama air’

‘Do you see a problem with my outfit?’

‘A dark thing.’

‘I need a saddle pommel. To steer me through the house.’

These men – and I think we can assume they are men – don’t really talk like people actually talk. Occasionally there are attempts to mimic the rhythm of ‘real’ speech, but for the most part their voices switch between written and spoken registers in mid-conversation. You could do it on stage like Beckett, but if people spoke like this in real life you would think them mad. But it is very nice to read them aloud.

It doesn’t really have a plot. There is no action as such. I suspect that your enjoyment of the book may be tempered by these issues. Certainly there may be questions from the back of the class as to whether we should or should not really consider this A Novel.

But who really cares about that anyway. It is a very pleasant thing to read. The writing is clear and concise and rhythmic, musical. It’s often quite funny. And it is reflective, in its way: one has the sense while reading it that the book is thinking through things for you. It is a kind of crystalline dialectic. And it is also angry, in its way: angry about the war, angry about sugar, angry about physical and moral decrepitude, and the ways in which we have been cowards. Above all, its vision of contentment is encapsulated in a dream of peace, isolation and inward solitude:

‘I would like to go to a place where there are orange fields and sweet young dogs to walk in them with. There is a small wind at all times, large wind at night. Things bud and decay in equilibrium, light and shade play together nicely. If things are named, the names are not known but not used overmuch. Forgetting and remembering have shaken hands.’(less)

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Dec 26, 2012 Steve Horowitt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked this book. Creative, imaginative, innovative. Two guys sitting on a porch just shooting the breeze about everything. Almost a combination of I'm Not Rappaport and Waiting for Godot with some free association. I was addicted to the style and sheer genius of how the author pulled this off for 170 pages, yet kept it compelling. I read this in one sitting, and I highly recommend it should you be looking for something very well written and out of the ordinary.

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Sep 10, 2012 Micah McCarty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This might be my favorite read of 2012 so far. I finished his earlier book, The Interrogative Mood, wishing I (or the author) could dialogue more about some of the questions. This book is full of similar questions but the setting is two old men on a porch talking through their thoughts on practically everything. They have brief dialogues on all manners of subjects and it becomes one of the most delightful books I've read in a long time. One part poetry, one part Abott and Costello's Who's on Fir...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Alex V. is currently reading it · review of another edition

I started reading the new Padgett Powell book You & Me and oh wow, oh my. That guy is doing some high trapeze art with plain old language. It might a homespun reduction of Waiting for Godot that is then built back up in to a high art that re-crumbles during its ascension to Higher Thought. It might be the rambling of idiots. It might be the earth whispering its secrets in the form of a joke. I'm not sure what it is but oh. It's good.

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Aug 04, 2012 wally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: powell

meh...i'd read this earlier in the year...or later last year...at the time, there was a pic of the cover, purple, w/the ampersand-thingy...etc...

then...later on, that pic disappeared so i inserted my own...photo of the copy i have...and this here is my convoluted way of trying to post road signs to the various thingies from the story...or not.

if there isn't a law...or a regulation...or fashionable ideology that will prosecute me for this offense, i suspect i won't have to wait long.

anyway...good...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wonderfully humorous. A guy book? Eminently quotable:

"Healthy desires today are all clotted up into Healthy Choices."

"Of course. We all had a wife. Wife is a synonym for past."

"Those people. They are the same people would pronounce the t in often and say interest with three syllables. Where do they come from?"

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Jun 10, 2012 Lia Aprile rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My husband and I have been reading this together...outloud. It is so glorious. A re-imagining of Waiting for Godot...funny and weird and heartbreaking. Emphasis on funny. Laugh out loud funny. Laugh out loud til your belly hurts, funny.

I don't know how we got such an early copy of this book, but GO OUT AND GET IT!

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Sep 02, 2012 Austen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

brilliant book about two southern gentlemen and their ramblings and visions. the great thing is its overall continuity and complete lack of togetherness. i loved the book as a story, but now i have the great pleasure to open at a
chance page and read that little section and mull over something fun, silly, and very heavy all day. what a read!

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Apr 09, 2013 R.G. Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With the exception of some of David Sedaris's and Dave Barry's books, Powell's "You and Me" is the funniest book I've ever read. A southern/hillbilly take on "Waiting For Godot," Powell's ear for peculiar, looping ironic dialogue is infectious and impossible to put down.

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May 11, 2013 Patrick added it · review of another edition

Even more pointless than Waiting For Godot, slackster lit for the art of gabbing.. less like a play than an eternal comic strip, with the same setting and the same characters, ruminating in syndication for infinity.

"Ice cream is like maggots in a field wound."

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Nov 15, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

light-hearted and hilarious, a book told entirely in conversation dialogue between two unidentified men. they chat about their imagined hero/uncle studio becalmed, about litterers, about a dog, about a river and art and music and whatever comes along.

just a great ongoing conversation to eavesdrop on.

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About Padgett Powell

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...more

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Quotes from You & Me: A Novel

“jejune longing is the chewing gum of life.” — 1 person liked it

“ease up. the day was rued when we came upon it, or when it came upon us, and beheld us marring the horizon, sitting here like unconquerable savages, men missing their dogs and talking pointlessly unless talk to the dead. let's sharpen something.” — 1 person liked it

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