A review by cmiller0401
Varieties of Disturbance: Stories by Lydia Davis

4.0

57 short stories ranging in length from a couple of words to 41 pages. 219 pages total. This is the breakdown:

Loved
"Kafka Cooks Dinner"
"The Caterpillar"
"We Miss You: A Study of Get-Well Letters from a Class of Fourth-Graders"
"Helen and Vi: A Study in Health and Vitality"
Stories: 4/57 (~7%)
Pages: 77/ 219 (~35%)

Unreadable*
"Southward Bound, Reads Westward Ho"
Stories: 1/57 (~2%)
Pages: 4/219 (~2%)

Meh, or eye roll*
The rest of the stories not specifically mentioned.
Stories: 52/57 (~91%)
Pages: 138/219 (~63%)

And somehow this all feels like 4 stars in the irrational blender of my heart.

*Unreadable/eye roll explanation: When artists of any kind employ experimental style without also delivering on content it annoys me. Different + good = culturally enriching; different - good = pretentious hot air.