Customer Reviews

Varieties of Disturbance: Stories

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Anyone glancing through this book who thinks "well, gee, I could just write a bunch of one-line stories or prose poems and be as smart as Lydia Davis" will find, if they actually attempt this project, that only Lydia Davis is as smart as Lydia Davis. Whether you read at random or in sequence, you will find your assumptions about fiction, story, and point-of-view seriously and subtly challenged by every piece in this collection. The shorter (as short as one line or indeed sentence fragments) pieces challenge the reader to interrogate the ample blank space for context and, of course, find none. On every page, the stylish ways Davis violates narrative conventions of form and substance just whets the craving for more of her relentlessly sharp, witty, varied prose. How can stories ostensibly structured as an anthropological or linguistic studies (or even a mess of notes) give us such heart-breaking insight into the vivid lives of characters who, in terms of the 'story,' are not even characters at all, but merely subjects? How can a non-story (two conference goers idly sharing a pleasant mental and physical ramble through history and literature) where nothing happens, nothing changes, and nothing is achieved inform us, so startlingly, about what a story actually *is*? Thank goodness people are still writing books that demand a reader actually exert the mental activity to *read*, and not just glance over words on a page.

Short stories? You call these short stories?

Well, it doesn't really matter what you label them....They are fun,
they are innovative, they zing your mind.

Evidently some readers were disappointed in this collection because it in no way fits the standard story form. I loved it. I laughed out loud in places, while other parts were terribly sad and moving. Ms. Davis accomplishes a lot in as little as one line, and nothing longer than a few pages. As one reads this collection, and her other work, which I snatched up greedily upon finishing Varieties of Disturbance, the interior life of a fascinating woman comes edging nervously, reluctantly into the open.

I won't lie, there is some mental effort involved. I am not a snob, I enjoy thrillers and other page-turners. There is no action in these stories, just a lot of tension and humor. But when you are inclined to read something that is spare yet runs very deep, you could hardly do better than Lydia Davis. Varieties of Disturbance is sort of breaking in in the middle, but that is how I did it, quite by accident, and I wasn't put off.

Consider the 57 items included in Varieties of Disturbance: approximately one-third (18) are four of fewer sentences in length (eleven consist of single sentences). Another third (20), the mid-sized, are from five sentences to one page in length. The rest (19) are over one page long. Of the longer ones, several are studies or comparisons: get-well letters from schoolmates of a hospitalized fourth grade boy, a passel of maids hired by a writer woman to care for her home and children, and "...A Study in Health and Vitality" of two elderly women. The story entitled, How Do I Mourn Them, is merely a list of entries beginning with, "Shall I [verb], like [initial]," for example, "Shall I smoke and drink heavily, like K." Grammar Questions concerns the proper way to refer to a dying (then dead) father. In the one-page-long-or-so category, topics include: a good taste contest between husband and wife, taking care of a baby, and the absentmindedness of letting a cat come indoors. The one-liners read a bit like random thoughts (which goes for several of the mid-sized stories as well). Its best accessory - the fake fly on the cover, worst - three pages of in your face all caps review excerpts. Those who like comparisons, analyses, personal journals, and random thoughts will probably love it. The same folks will probably also enjoy Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas and The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios by Yann Martell. Those who prefer to dwell (and read) within the realm of normalcy should probably skip this odd collection. Although Lydia Davis fans will no doubt love Varieties of Disturbance, the rest might prefer: Runaway by Alice Munro, Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman, The Turning by Tim Winton, or A Gravestone Made of Wheat by Will Weaver.

Those with a particular fondness for linguistics will find themselves quite taken with this collection, but unfortunately I am not one of them. These stories read like Dr Seuss for the adult reader, minus character development, and sometimes nary a character at all. The concepts behind this collection leave an unapproachable, almost purposely cold feeling to the reader.

I adore short story collections, and the art of a tale unfolding itself in a small space is utterly fascinating to me. I would highly recommend What Was Mine by Ann Beattie, or Thank You For The Music by Jane McCafferty.