Samuel Johnson Is Indignant: Stories

by Lydia Davis

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312420560
• ISBN13: 9780312420567
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Playful writer

I've been quoting her story "Spring Spleen" to people (in its two-sentence entirety) because it's so delightfully short and it conveys its meaning perfectly. I appreciate quirky and inventive writers very much and found SJII to be an enjoyable read. She's up there with Russell Edson and Padgett Powell as a master of the short form.

thought provoking, boiled-down, heart-of-the-matter stories

I love this book and also felt the need to counter the 2 star reviewer who quoted a one line story from the book without including the story title or the italics. Both are essential to taking in the story because Lydia Davis does not waste a word, even on the title. Most of the stories leave the reader with something universal, even when the "univeral thing" goes unsaid. Some of the stories were so close to the bone that I feel I could've written them if I could pare off words as well as she does. I found the book thought provoking and highly entertaining.

i'm an elite reader, indeed, and this was a really good book

i read this book a few months ago so it's not totally fresh in my mind, but i feel the need to counter the two-star reviewer. i LOVE literature in which "you are not given any clues as to how [...] events or opinions have come to be formed." it's that kind of thing that makes you think. i like spare, incisive language. i like brevity and dry humor. if you like some of these things then you might like this collection as well.

A Master of Language

I believe Lydia Davis to be one of the great wordsmiths of our time. Her latest collection, Samuel Johnson is Indignant, is nothing less than excellent. Davis's writing is so consise and precise that it completely blows my mind.I was first turned on to her writing through McSweeney's (Issue 4, to be exact). While many now clump her in that group along with David Eggers, Rick Moody and others, Lydia Davis seems to outshine them with her quick wit and amazing use of words.Davis's work, however, is not for everyone. If you're looking for traditional short stories then you'll be dissapointed because Lydia Davis's style is really groundbreaking. The title piece, for example, is one sentence long. Some of the stuff is short, some a bit longer, but none feel fluffy.I would recommend this to anyone looking for something new. Davis's voice is strong and ripe with honesty. I truly love this collection.

Another gem from McSweeneys

Great Book!One of the best in the Mcsweeney's catalog