Lydia Davis
Starting early next week, Lydia Davis will be spending nearly three weeks on Vassar campus as our writer-in-residence. Her public reading is on Feb 6, at 5.30 PM, in the Sanders Auditorium. Here’s one of her stories in her collection, Samuel Johnson is Indignant:
Happiest Moment
If you ask her what is a favorite story she has written, she will hesitate for a long time and then say it may be this story that she read in a book once: an English language teacher in China asked his Chinese student to say what was the happiest moment in his life. The student hesitated for a long time. At last he smiled with embarrassment and said that his wife had once gone to Beijing and eaten duck there, and she often told him about it, and he would have to say the happiest moment of his life was her trip, and the eating of the duck.
Thanks for posting. I love Davis.
Comment by Matthew Tiffany — February 9, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
you are so lucky to have her there!
Comment by r ellis — February 9, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
Hi Amitava! what a coincidence! I was just looking for Lydia Davis stories online and your post was the first hit!
She is one of my favourite authors of late.
How are you? cheers! Siobhan
Comment by siobhan o'flynn — February 29, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
I just read a collection of her short, short stories and loved it! I can’t wait to read more by her. Thanks for the post above.
Comment by anglophile — April 9, 2008 @ 2:58 pm