Essays one

Available from OverDrive (1)

Something

Summary

A selection of essays on writing and reading by the master short-fiction writer Lydia Davis.

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "Davis is renowned for her piquant, mischievous, and emotionally astute very short stories, gathered most recently in Can't and Won't (2014). This sizable and scintillating collection is the first to showcase Davis' nonfiction. Much of the pleasure in these agile and illuminating literary inquiries is found in her tales of how she came to write, what led her away from traditional short stories to pursue her particular style of brevity, and how she works. Davis' readers relish the quick feints and thrusts of her concise stories, and here we discover just how much revision is involved in their composition. In Revising One Sentence, a piece which has itself been reworked over the years, she explains how she not only revises the words but also the thought of the sentence. Other essays focus on her close readings of such writers as Thomas Pynchon, Lucia Berlin, Rae Armantrout, and Maurice Blanchot, her use of found material, and her delight in surprise, exactitude, and the absurd. A second volume about her work as a distinguished translator of Proust and Flaubert is in the offing.--Donna Seaman Copyright 2019 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "The first in a planned two-volume collection of the nonfiction of short story author Davis (Samuel Johnson Is Indignant) proves a cornucopia of illuminating and timeless observations on literature, art, and the craft of writing. A master of short, punchy prose works, Davis discloses her influences, some of which may be surprising even to longtime fans, including Roland Barthes, Franz Kafka, and Grace Paley, among many more. In a few essays, Davis presents first drafts of her own work along with the final versions, annotating and explaining revisions and providing an instructive window into her process. Interwoven throughout are short pieces on some of Davis's favorite artists, or alternatively, those whom she finds pleasingly confounding. In the latter category is expressionist painter Joan Mitchell, whose 1973 work Les Bluets Davis credits with helping her to accept and embrace the inscrutable. Invaluable is the 2013 piece "Thirty Recommendations for Good Writing Habits," which outlines best practices for creative writing, from honing one's observational techniques to crafting believable dialogue. Fans of Davis's unfailingly clever work should add this volume to their collection, and creative writers of every genre should take the opportunity to learn from a legend. Agent: Denise Shannon, Denise Shannon Literary. (Nov.)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Additional Information

Subjects	Reading Writing American essays Literary Criticism Nonfiction Electronic books. Essays.
Publisher	[Place of publication not identified] :Farrar, Straus and Giroux,2019 Farrar, Straus and Giroux2019
Edition	First edition.
Other Titles	Essays.
Contributors	OverDrive, Inc.
Language	English
System Details	Mode of access: World Wide Web. Format: Adobe EPUB eBook Format: Kindle Book Format: OverDrive Read Requires Adobe Digital Editions or Amazon Kindle
Description	1 online resource
ISBN	9780374719241 9780374719241
Other	Classic View