Lydia Davis Knihy

A collection of short fiction that is written by the winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2013.

A selection of essays on writing and reading by the master short-fiction writer Lydia Davis Lydia Davis is a writer whose originality, influence, and wit are beyond compare. Jonathan Franzen has called her “a magician of self-consciousness,” while Rick Moody hails her as "the best prose stylist in America." And for Claire Messud, “Davis's signal gift is to make us feel alive.” Best known for her masterful short stories and translations, Davis’s gifts extend equally to her nonfiction. In Essays I: Reading and Writing, Davis has, for the first time, gathered a selection of essays, commentaries, and lectures composed over the past five decades. In this first of two volumes, her subjects range from her earliest influences to her favorite short stories, from John Ashbery’s translation of Rimbaud to Alan Cote’s painting, and from the Shepherd’s Psalm to early tourist photographs. On display is the development and range of one of the sharpest, most capacious minds writing today.

"A collection of essays on translation, foreign languages, Proust, and one French city, from the master short-fiction writer and acclaimed translator Lydia Davis. In Essays One, Lydia Davis, who has been called "a magician of self-consciousness" by Jonathan Franzen and "the best prose stylist in America" by Rick Moody, gathered a generous selection of her essays about best writing practices, representations of Jesus, early tourist photographs, and much more. Essays Two collects Davis's writings and talks on her second profession: the art of translation. The award-winning translator from the French reflects on her experience translating Proust. She also makes an extended visit to the French city of Arles, and writes about the varied adventures of learning Norwegian, Dutch, and Spanish through reading and translation. Davis, a 2003 MacArthur Fellow and the winner of the 2013 Man Booker International Prize for her fiction, here focuses her unique intelligence and idiosyncratic ways of understanding on the endlessly complex relations between languages. Together with Essays One, this provocative and delightful volume cements her status as one of our most original and beguiling writers"--Publisher's description

Jak se vyjádřil jeden z jejích kolegů spisovatelů, Lucia Berlinová (1936–2004) je „nejutajovanějším americkým pokladem“ v rámci povídkového žánru. Její tvorba se hlásí k odkazu A. P. Čechova a Raymonda Carvera a jistě se trefí do vkusu také fanouškům Alice Munroové a Annie Proulxové. Soubor nazvaný Manuál pro uklízečky je výběrem toho nejlepšího z díla této legendární povídkářky. Autorka se svou typickou směsicí humoru a melancholie přetváří všednodennost v nepravděpodobnou krásu, objevuje půvab v jídelnách a veřejných prádelnách amerického Jihozápadu, v domovech severokalifornské společenské smetánky a v titulní povídce například také v perspektivě osamělé uklízečky v jídelně jednoho hotelu v Mexico City. Berlinová píše o rodině, lásce a práci stylem, který je přímočarý, prostý a soucitný. Ženy z autorčiných povídek jsou sice ztracené, ale také silné, chytré a neobyčejně opravdové. Berlinová se vyznačuje brutální upřímností, empatií a humorem – inspiraci čerpala z vlastního života poznamenaného mimo jiné střídáním zaměstnání a alkoholismem.

Exploring philosophical themes and the intricacies of language, this collection of short fiction delves into complex domestic conflicts. Lydia Davis offers profound insights into human relationships, blending empathy with a keen awareness of the emotional landscape. Each story invites readers to reflect on the nuances of connection and communication, highlighting the fragility and depth of personal interactions.

The thirty-four stories in this seminal collection powerfully display what have become Lydia Davis's trademarks—dexterity, brevity, understatement, and surprise. Although the certainty of her prose suggests a world of almost clinical reason and clarity, her characters show us that life, thought, and language are full of disorder. Break It Down is Davis at her best. In the words of Jonathan Franzen, she is "a magician of self-consciousness."

On the border of Scotland and England beginning in 1898, two sheep farmers and their sheepdogs engage in a years-long battle to prove their superiority in handling sheep--a battle which must end in death

From one of our most imaginative and inventive writers, a crystalline collection of perfectly modulated, sometimes harrowing and often hilarious investigations into the multifaceted ways in which human beings perceive each other and themselves. A couple suspects their friends think them boring; a woman resolves to see herself as nothing but then concludes she's set too high a goal; and a funeral home receives a letter rebuking it for linguistic errors. Lydia Davis once again proves in the words of the Los Angeles Times "one of the quiet giants in the world of American fiction."

Celebrating seven years of culinary creativity, this collection features exceptional writing from notable fiction and nonfiction authors, showcasing a diverse range of topics from humor to lyrical prose, and recipes to personal reflections. The pieces explore various aspects of food and drink, blending historical insights with contemporary experiences, all while maintaining the high-quality writing that defines the magazine. Unique in its literary approach, it stands out as the only journal with its own martini recipe, adding a playful twist to the literary feast.

Lydia Davis has been called "one of the quiet giants in the world of American fiction" (Los Angeles Times), "an American virtuoso of the short story form" (Salon), an innovator who attempts "to remake the model of the modern short story" (The New York Times Book Review). Her admirers include Grace Paley, Jonathan Franzen, and Zadie Smith; as Time magazine observed, her stories are "moving . . . and somehow inevitable, as if she has written what we were all on the verge of thinking."In Varieties of Disturbance, her fourth collection, Davis extends her reach as never before in stories that take every form from sociological studies to concise poems. Her subjects include the five senses, fourth-graders, good taste, and tropical storms. She offers a reinterpretation of insomnia and re-creates the ordeals of Kafka in the kitchen. She questions the lengths to which one should go to save the life of a caterpillar, proposes a clear account of the sexual act, rides the bus, probes the limits of marital fidelity, and unlocks the secret to a long and happy life.No two of these fictions are alike. And yet in each, Davis rearranges our view of the world by looking beyond our preconceptions to a bizarre truth, a source of delight and surprise.Varieties of Disturbance is a 2007 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction.