Another brilliant collection from a stalwart writer of short fiction. Obsessed and will be revisiting!

Our Strangers by Lydia Davis is an insightful and playful well-crafted collection of short fiction and stories.

Really enjoyed this collection of short stories - the ability to make a story in such a short number of words is something that Davis has absolutely mastered. I can’t wait to read more of her work.

Lydia Davis' work in this collection is a revelation for those unfamiliar with her writing. The stories, both short and very short, delve into the minutiae of everyday life—moments often overlooked or quickly forgotten. Despite their brevity, these narratives capture the essence of existence, emphasizing the significance of these seemingly trivial moments. Ranging from several pages to just a few sentences, each story leaves traces of larger, untold tales that invite readers to fill in the gaps with their imagination. Some stories provide multiple versions of the same events, creating a multifaceted exploration. The collection elicits a range of emotions, from laughter to an acute sense of awkwardness and poignant reflections. Overall, Davis' storytelling is both unique and impactful.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if it were in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Lydia Davis's short short stories are always a delight to read. She is able to mix the mundane with the profound, interviewing her playful narrative voice with meta-references to her own writing and reading. There's something for everyone here both for old fans and new.

These stories that range from very short (a couple of sentences) to 5 pages or so, don’t read like stories more like crafted observations on human nature, relationships, behaviour, language, spelling and more. I found it really enjoyable to dip into and read a few at a time. They quickly got boring if I tried to read more of it at once. Clever and interesting in small doses for me.

I've never read short stories like these before - mostly completely disconnected, some only a line or two long, many in the form of lists or letters etc. In fact, there are only a handful of what you might traditionally recognise as 'short stories' in here. None of that is to detract from what a wonderful experience reading this collection is - I absolutely loved it and highly recommend. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I must be honest, I hadn’t heard of Lydia Davis before, so I had absolutely no preconceptions when I started to read Our Strangers.

I really enjoyed the collection and didn’t know what to expect as I turned the pages. I was entertained reading the very short stories. In the collection, also made up of short-form prose, there are some snatched bits of overheard conversations, which are incredibly funny.

It was a varied read, and something unlike anything I had read before.

Thanks to the publishers, Canongate, and also NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. And even bigger thanks for introducing me to the work of Lydia Davis.

The shortest short stories, with the most to say. How Lydia Davis is not more well-known I will never understand.

Ahh, dear. I'm kicking myself as I usually manage to keep my eyes on the archive date and download before they occur, but I somehow managed to miss this one. I have just purchased it as I still want to read it as much as ever, My apologies for missing the archive date.

A delight!

I have read that Lydia Davis writing style is an acquired taste but I think anybody who loves to read will be wholly enamoured by this short story collection. I have so many favourite's from this vast collection it would be impossible to list but the skill to capture so much in so few words impressed me over and over again.

Davis examines normal everyday things that we all experience in daily life. Her observations are a joy to read from overheard conversations, insects, relationships to random claims to fame each story surprised and delighted me.

I have already ordered a copy of this book ( only available from independent bookstores and libraries by the authors request. Swoon, what a woman) and its now become my new go to book to purchase as a gift when I need a gift for the other book lovers in my life.

Wonderful from first story to last.

I've been reading those short story collection for a while, and I was keen as I've heard Lydia Davis is such a master of the form. But most of these were so so short that they didn't really have an impact on me – often a paragraph or a sentence or half a page. Although a few did grab me, on the whole I just don't think such short stories work for me. I'm glad I tried Lydia Davis anyway!

A collection of short fiction by activist, translator, and award-winning writer Lydia Davis. There are well over a hundred pieces here which may sound like a lot but Davis excels in pieces brief enough to qualify as flash fiction, often pithy or aphoristic, sometimes almost wilfully eccentric. Davis is fascinated by the out of the ordinary but equally by the overlooked and the everyday, moments that make up a life from conversations overheard in cafes or on trains to brief interactions between friends or lovers to seemingly random thoughts that speak volumes about relationships: one of the few, longer entries “Addie and the Chili” is a wonderful recreation of the kind of encounter that can suddenly end a friendship; while “On Sufferance” revolves around a funny, brilliantly absurdist conversation between a worldly cat and a clueless dog; and the title story “Our Strangers” is composed of a series of poignant reflections on community and interactions between neighbours. In many ways Davis is one of a kind, although her attention to detail, her agile use of language and striking perspectives on her world sometimes reminded me of writers like Mary Ruefle. Davis’s work can be enigmatic and elliptical but she’s equally adept at exposing deeper issues around parenting, aging and pondering the sheer weight of existence. There are a few stories that didn't work for me - not surprising in such an extensive collection - but these are mostly, memorably marvellous.

Stunning collection. Am a long-time fan of Lydia Davis, and she doesn't disappoint. The writing's very impressive, easy to love, and hard to forget. Not the kind of stories that I can easily tell another person or friend about because they is are all so uniquely Davis in best possible ways - beautifully compl; but would definitely want to shove a copy into their hands. Rating it 4 stars now, but as with other books by Davis I've read, I tend to love them more the more I reread them. I believe that stands true with this one as well.

In one of the stories in Lydia Davis’s new collection, the narrator observes, resonantly for me:

"I opened it and looked at the beginning and saw there was a “cast of characters” that went on for three pages! Right away I knew I’d never read that novel."

But no such issue with Davis’s own wonderful collection although you do get a contents list of the “very short and sometimes boldly absurd” stories that goes on for three pages - something like 150 stories in a book of 250 pages.

The quote in the preceding paragraph is actually Davis’s own words on Russell Edson, who she acknowledges as an influence and another story pays tribute to the Swiss writer Peter Bischel (who Davis has translated e.g. in The White Review) and again in words that also apply to her own work;

He then goes on to tell a lovely, quiet, modest story, a story that glows with human kindness, or love, or some combination of compassion, understanding, and honesty.

This final comparison is mine but I am always reminded of The Far Side cartoon by Davis’s rooted, compassionate but often offbeat work.

One of my favourites was the following, one of a number of odd Marriage Moments of Annoyance, and which reminds me why the insurer for whom I’m an executive ensure our literature and website receives the Plain English campaign’s crystal mark for clarity:

"Marriage Moment of Annoyance—Insurance

She was trying to explain something to him. What she said was confusing, contradictory, and a little incoherent.

“You’re like that insurance document!” he said to her."

Another is a running series of rather obscure claims to fame, and which reminds the reader that Davis is an equally accomplished translator as author:

"Claim to Fame #2: Karl Marx and My Father

Karl Marx and my father both had daughters. Both daughters grew up to become translators. Both translated Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary!"

And The Investigation, which hints at how dream (or fever) logic is perhaps more logical than it seems:

"My fever grew worse, and I was unable to continue my investigation. But I was sure I had reached some understanding of time and history. Yet when I later read the notes I had made, I found them incoherent, marred by gaps and inconsistencies. What had seemed a revelation to me then, now seemed either obvious or not true. I was sure I had learned a few things and gained some understanding, but I was not sure if the investigation had been worthwhile. On the other hand, it was also possible that I had learned something valuable in my fever that I was not yet prepared to face in the full clarity of my recovered health."

Another wonderful feature is that, at Davis's request, Our Strangers is available for sale only at physical bookshops, Bookshop.org, and selected online independent retailers. "Davis is deeply concerned about monopolistic bookselling, and hopes this decision will both stand as a sign of her solidarity with independent booksellers and encourage further conversation about the vital importance of a diverse publishing ecosystem."

So why not 5 stars? Well, rather like the Far Side cartoons, some stories work and some don't (at least for this reader) and, perhaps more significantly, while there are connections, running themes and stories that comment on other stories, I think they would work better consumed syndicated cartoon, or advent calendar, style i.e. one or two a day, rather than read, as I did, back to back.

But nevertheless a wonderful change from novels with lengthy casts of characters and too many hundreds of pages.

Our strangers is a striking collection of short fictional that brings shines a light on the small, seemingly unimportant interactions that happen every day and showing us how meaningful or impactful a stranger or passing comment can really be.

Davis has a strangely compelling way of capturing littlest, quietest parts of the human experience and breaking them down into these little snapshots of life that are universally recognisable. It paints a picture of beautiful moments of connection and understanding in a thoughtful and provocative way. The prose was strange but delightful — it took a moment to realise these short pieces weren’t stories exactly, didn’t alway have a narrative structure, but instead were just moments that were fleeting and we quickly move onto the next one. They had a slight playful, lyrical air to them and felt like snippets of conversations caught in passing. Considering the sheer amount of sections, I can’t say I resonated with or enjoyed every piece of writing, but there’s so many choices you’ll definitely find something to interest you.

From a cat and dog observing their differences, tired workers who cry in the office, a woman fantasising about time to herself, to a man sneezing on the train, to people posting in online forums and several anecdotes about the authors own connections with strangers, there was such variety that every few pages felt refreshed and new.

Also as a quick note from me, there is a memo at the start of the book that was very important - this book will only be available at independent booksellers. Your local booksellers are just readers like us, and if we don’t use them, we’ll lose them. Pop into your local bookstore or find their own website, talk about your favourite stories and make sure we keep bookstores alive.

This is a book full of short stories, some
Just a couple of pages long. They are easy to read but leave a big impression. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Lydia David is a genius! No-one else has this ability to skewer life in tiny pieces and to do it with such smartness, intelligence and wit. Whether we're inside the mind of a feuding dog and cat, watching a woman up at night, or hear a story of one of the shortest marriages in history, this is just brilliant in Davis' unique way. Utterly compulsive, delightful, astringent - this would make a brilliant present for friends who haven't yet discovered Davis.

I had not read anything by Lydia Davis before this book. I had also not read anything by anyone that was quite like this. My first reaction shortly after starting this book was, 'Wow!' Now that I am finished with it, that is still my reaction. This is a fabulous book of short and very short stories about small aspects of everyday life that most of people would either miss or forget about shortly after they took place. Yet, as this collection reminds us, these are the moments that make up our lives and they're worth noticing and paying attention to. Some of the stories are several pages long and some are just a few sentences. Even the very short stories leave traces of larger stories that the reader can fill in in whatever way their imaginations takes them. A few of the stories provide different versions of the same events within them. There are stories that made me laugh out loud, stories that made me feel the awkwardness of a given situation, and stories that are poignant. I devoured this book in one sitting, but it would also be a good book to keep in a handy spot so one can easily dip in and out of it. It also warrants rereading. It may also make readers want to notice the usually unnoticed as they go about their daily lives. I can't wait to read more Lydia Davis and I am thrilled to have discovered her work. 5+ stars.