Samuel Johnson Is Indignant

"e;Highly intelligent, wildly entertaining stories . . . visionary, philosophical, comic prose-part Gertrude Stein, part Simone Weil, and pure Lydia Davis."e; -ElleFrom 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 "e;one of the quiet giants in the world of American fiction."e;"e;The 56 stories . . . showcase the wordplay and distillation of meaning that have become her stylistic hallmarks, offering up crisp twists on familiar themes. . . . Eclectic and astute, Davis continues to find new ways to tell us the things we need to know."e; Publishers Weekly"e;Outsiders, self-doubt, and alienation: all form the bedrock upon which Davis sets up an off-kilter, edgy universe distinctly her own."e; Kirkus Reviews"e;Davis should be counted among the true originals of contemporary American short fiction."e; San Francisco Chronicle"e;Davis deploys her gift for verbal bemusement, annoyance, and high anxiety . . . [and] converts her characters' complex ruminations into narratives full of insight and pleasure."e; The Village Voice"e;If you're smart, chances are good you'll read the stories in Lydia Davis's Samuel Johnson is Indignant."e; Vanity Fair"e;Precise and quietly unsettling."e; Detroit Free Press"e;Introspective and subversive, ironic and playful, obsessive and funny."e; Salon