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Break It Down (High Risk Books) (Paperback)

by Lydia Davis (Author) "I get home from work and there is a message from him: that he is not coming, that he is busy..." (more)
Key Phrases: very stupid man, les vaches, Old Woman Will Wear, French Lesson, New York (more...)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This work is a collection of 34 stories which reassure the reader that reality is orderly and reasonable. However, as the characters in the stories prove by their fallibility, misunderstanding and confusion are inherent in everyday life.

Product Details

Paperback: 196 pages
Publisher: Serpent's Tail (April 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1852424214
ISBN-13: 978-1852424213
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #897,210 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
I get home from work and there is a message from him: that he is not coming, that he is busy. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
very stupid man, les vaches

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Woman Will Wear, French Lesson, New York, The Cottages

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 3 books:

Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education by Shinichi Suzuki in Copyright
The Way Of Man: According to the Teaching of Hasidism by Martin Buber in Copyright
Story and Other Stories by Lydia Davis in Copyright

16 books cite this book:

Some Other Frequency: Interviews With Innovative American Authors (Penn Studies in Contemporary American Fiction) by Larry McCaffery on 5 pages
A Short Story Writer's Companion by Tom Bailey on page 75, and Back Matter
The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven by Rick Moody in Back Matter
Unknown Masterpieces: Writers Rediscover Literature's Hidden Classics (New York Review Books Classics) by Edwin Frank in Back Matter
Bestial Noise: The Tin House Fiction Reader by Tin House in Back Matter

See all 16 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	45% buy Break It Down: Stories 3.0 out of 5 stars (2) $10.40
	32% buy the item featured on this page: Break It Down (High Risk Books) 4.6 out of 5 stars (10)
	9% buy The End of the Story: A Novel 4.2 out of 5 stars (9) $10.20
	7% buy Samuel Johnson Is Indignant: Stories 3.8 out of 5 stars (12) $11.20

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This woman is God., February 8, 2000

By A Customer

I have never written an online review, but I just could not help myself this time. "Break It Down" is absolutely exquisite. Not only can Ms. Davis write, she can make you FEEL what she's writing about. There is a pulse to her stories that grabs you and will not let you go. Her exploration of the individual's need for rationalization and order in the world is powerfully conveyed and leaves you aching for her characters. I've read many good short stories by many good authors, but seldom do I come across anything that rocked my world--This rocked my world.

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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cutting Edge Fiction, May 14, 2001

By	C. Ebeling "ctlpareader" (PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

In a rare miscue, Amazon has plugged in the Publisher's Weekly review of a murder mystery which this collection of cutting edge fiction is anything but. This is short fiction by a rare voice. Lots of writers have done very short fiction, lots have experimented with style, few get it right like Lydia Davis. She strips the conventions of fiction down to the barest essentials, often speaking from a removed perspective. She adds just enough strokes of imagery, however, to warm it up and allow the reader to enjoy a rich experience. Davis is in total control. I highly recommend this volume to anyone who wants to know what is going on at the forefront of literary fiction. Another note: this edition, a trade paperback, is of uncommon high quality, with a cover that sports flaps like the dust jacket on a hardcover.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars books to insist on, December 24, 1999

By	Susan Goodrich (New York) - See all my reviews

Lydia Davis is among the best writers writing today, but I'm not sure that's the point. There are zero other writers I would do with as with her - press it on out of town visitors, make them read The Mouse before I will take them out to whatever they came here for. I am not sure why it doesn't appear in collections of the best stories of the latter half of the century, but it should.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Well, to tell you the truth I haven't officially read the book yet...
but one of Dave Eggers' books referred me to her. And if Dave Eggers commented on her as "terrifyingly good" then I suspose she's pretty damn good. Read more

Published 16 months ago by A. Sabin

5.0 out of 5 stars Her sentences are like little gilt-wrapped presents that explode when opened.
A master of the short-short story. The friend who introduced me to this book -- reprinted nicely by High Risk, although I read it in the original, sadly out of print hardback --... Read more

Published on August 26, 2005 by J. T. Towers

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven- yet often brilliant
"Break it Down" is a varied collection of pieces- some as short as a paragraph, some of short stroy length, but none of them are at all like anything else you've ever... Read more

Published on August 16, 2001 by Michael J Edelman

4.0 out of 5 stars Often personal, often objective...a wide scope of style
I find it difficult to properly address the broad spectrum of writing in Lydia Davis' Break It Down. Read more

Published on July 11, 2001 by ninjasuperstar

3.0 out of 5 stars Creative but inconsistent
Quite a bit of "Break it Down" is amazingly good. Amazingly good because most of the stories are brief, to the point and blatant with a slight quirk to them. Read more

Published on June 9, 2001 by J. Vallese

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant writing.Lucky for us that it's still in print.
Break It Down is a book I lend to friends, who inevitably love it and are stunned by its force and integrity. So I decided to check amazon. Read more

Published on September 2, 1999 by Linda Norton

5.0 out of 5 stars great focused experimental fiction. American Paris Spleen
I love this writer! It's been a while since I've read this book, but I have only fond memories of it. Read more

Published on October 1, 1998

› See all 10 customer reviews...

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