Lydia Davis

Break It Down (High Risk Books)

Trever

Davis has a good voice. She can make anything seem simultaneously human/comforting and anxious/alarming. The ones that really got me on the first read were "The Fears of Mrs Orlando", "The House Plans", and "Two Sisters". A lot of them were just okay as far as entertainment value but were great as literary works. For instance, "French Lesson I" is fairly strange to read, but if you analyze it enough you can see that it's very well-executed. "Break It Down", the title story, was interesting but it almost seemed to be trying too hard. I'm also not sure how much Davis has affected the really bad, MFA workshop-style short story writers of today. I know that David Foster Wallace has complained about those types since around the time of the release of Break it Down.

So if you like crafty stories, try this one. If you're looking for an entertaining read, don't.

Break It Down (High Risk Books)

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