The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis

Named one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times, The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis is an event in American letters. Lydia Davis is one of our most original and influential writers. She has been called "an American virtuoso of the short story form" (Salon) and "one of the quiet giants . . . of American fiction" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Now, for the first time, Davis's short stories are collected in one volume, from the groundbreaking Break It Down (1986) to the 2007 National Book Award nominee Varieties of Disturbance. Praise for The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis Critics unanimously praised this extraordinary (and extraordinarily hefty) collection, in which Davis masterfully taps into myriad emotions-from melancholy to hilarity, empathy, and apathy. Each voice is unique; each story is equally difficult to categorize . . . Davis steadfastly refuses to adhere to any kind of prescribed formula, with stunning and original results. Whatever label readers decide to attach to her work, critics agreed that Davis is one of American literature's best-kept secrets." -Bookmarks Magazine "Among the true originals of contemporary American short fiction." -San Francisco Chronicle

Lydia Davis

BREAK IT DOWN (1986) Story The Fears of Mrs. Orlando Liminal: The Little Man Break It Down Mr. Burdoff's Visit to Germany What She Knew The Fish Mildred and the Oboe The Mouse The Letter Extracts from a Life The House Plans The Brother-in-Law How W. H. Auden Spends the Night in a Friend's House: Mothers In a House Besieged Visit to Her Husband Cockroaches in Autumn The Bone A Few Things Wrong with Me Sketches for a Life of Wassilly City Employment Two Sisters The Mother Therapy French Lesson I: Le Meurtre Once a Very Stupid Man The Housemaid The Cottages Safe Love Problem What an Old Woman Will Wear The Sock Five Signs of Disturbance ALMOST NO MEMORY (1997) Meat, My Husband Jack in the Country Foucault and Pencil The Mice The Thirteenth Woman The Professor The Cedar Trees The Cats in the Prison Recreation Hall Wife One in Country The Fish Tank The Center of the Story Love Our Kindness A Natural Disaster Odd Behavior St. Martin Agreement In the Garment District Disagreement The Actors What Was Interesting In the Everglades The Family Trying to Learn To Reiterate Lord Royston's Tour The Other A Friend of Mine This Condition Go Away Pastor Elaine's Newsletter A Man in Our Town A Second Chance Fear Almost No Memory Mr. Knockly How He Is Often Right The Rape of the Tanuk Women What I Feel Lost Things Glenn Could Smoke From Below, as a Neighbor The Great-Grandmothers Ethics The House Behind The Outing A Position at the University Examples of Confusion The Race of the Patient Motorcyclists Affinity SAMUEL JOHNSON IS INDIGNANT (2001) Boring Friends A Mown Lawn City People Betrayal The White Tribe Our Trip Special Chair Certain Knowledge from Herodotus Priority The Meeting Companion Blind Date Examples of Remember Old Mother and the Grouch Samuel Johnson Is Indignant New Year's Resolution First Grade: Handwriting Practice Interesting Happiest Moment Jury Duty A Double Negative The Old Dictionary Honoring the Subjunctive How Difficult Losing Memory Letter to a Funeral Parlor Thyroid Diary Information from the North Concerning the Ice: Murder in Bohemia Happy Memories They Take Turns Using a Word They Like Marie Curie, So Honorable Woman Mir the Hessian My Neighbors in a Foreign Place Oral History (with Hiccups) The Patient Right and Wrong Alvin the Typesetter Special Selfish My Husband and I Spring Spleen Her Damage Workingmen In a Northern Country Away from Home Company Finances The Transformation Two Sisters (II) The Furnace Young and Poor The Silence of Mrs. Separate Almost Over: Seperate Bedrooms Money Acknowledgment VARIETIES OF DISTURBANCE (2007) A Man from her Past Dog and Me Enlightened The Good Taste Contest Collaboration with Fly Kafka Cooks Dinner Tropical Storm Good Times Idea for a Short Documentary Film Forbidden Subjects Two Types The Senses Grammar Questions Hand The Caterpillar Child Care We Miss You: A Study of Get-Well Letters from a Class of Fourth-Graders Passing Wind Television Jane and the Cane Getting to Know Your Body Absentminded Southward Bound, Reads Worstward Ho The Walk Varieties of Disturbance Lonely Mrs. D and Her Maids 20 Sculptures in One Hour Nietszche What You Learn About the Baby Her Mother's Mother How It Is Done Insomnia