Short Story Wednesday :THE COLLECTED STORIES OF LYDIA DAVIS

 

I remember buying this on the upper west side at the urging of a friend and that was well over a decade ago. I have read the occasional one-most of them are a page or two-and being somewhat stymied by them. The critics love her.  The writing is not gorgeous enough to function as poetry and there's not enough narrative to be a true story.

“A body of work probably unique in American writing, in its combination of lucidity, aphoristic brevity, formal originality, sly comedy, metaphysical bleakness, philosophical pressure, and human wisdom. I suspect that 'The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis' will in time be seen as one of the great, strange American literary contributions.” ―James Wood, The New Yorker.

"The Cats in the Prison Recreation Hall" tells the story of the horrible smell cause by the cats occupying a prison hall and how it was dealt with. Just a few pages long and you may or may not find it entertaining. Most of the stories are like this. I think Jeff M is a fan. I will keep reading. 

They are not so different than the prose section of a haibun. Maybe I need to think of them like that.