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A review by sloatsj
Can't and Won't by Lydia Davis
5.0
Coincidentally, today just before I finished this a colleague handed back to me [b:Varieties of Disturbance|113862|Varieties of Disturbance|Lydia Davis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317064658s/113862.jpg|109631], which I'd lent to her some time ago. I asked her how she liked it and she said she liked much of it, but sometimes felt Davis was full of herself, and must think all her words are gold-plated.
I don't feel that way at all, though I think [b:Can't and Won't: Stories|17934642|Can't and Won't Stories|Lydia Davis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391348924s/17934642.jpg|25142533] is a better collection. I got so used to the very short that I kind of dreaded the stories of normal length, even though there were good too, with the exception of "Letter to the Foundation," which I didn't like.
My favorites were -
A Cook's Lesson
The Two Davises and the Rug (a longer one, relatively)
A Woman, Thirty
Her Geography, Alabama
How I Read As Quickly as Possible Through My Back Issues of the TLS
Men
Negative Emotions
The Piano
The Seals (a longer one)
Left Luggage
Waiting for Takeoff (which begins, "We site in the airplane so long, on the ground, waiting to take off, that one woman declares she will now write her novel, and another in a neighboring seat says she will be happy to edit it.")
Industry
Wrong Thank-you in Theater
I don't feel that way at all, though I think [b:Can't and Won't: Stories|17934642|Can't and Won't Stories|Lydia Davis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391348924s/17934642.jpg|25142533] is a better collection. I got so used to the very short that I kind of dreaded the stories of normal length, even though there were good too, with the exception of "Letter to the Foundation," which I didn't like.
My favorites were -
A Cook's Lesson
The Two Davises and the Rug (a longer one, relatively)
A Woman, Thirty
Her Geography, Alabama
How I Read As Quickly as Possible Through My Back Issues of the TLS
Men
Negative Emotions
The Piano
The Seals (a longer one)
Left Luggage
Waiting for Takeoff (which begins, "We site in the airplane so long, on the ground, waiting to take off, that one woman declares she will now write her novel, and another in a neighboring seat says she will be happy to edit it.")
Industry
Wrong Thank-you in Theater