The collected stories of Lydia Davis

Break it down (1986). Story -- The fears of Mrs. Orlando -- Liminal: the little man -- Break it down -- Mr. Burdoff's visit to Germany -- What she knew -- The fish -- Mildred and the oboe -- The mouse -- The letter -- Extracts from a life -- The house plans -- The brother-in-law -- How W.H. Auden spends the night in a friend's house -- Mothers -- In a house besieged -- Visit to her husband -- Cockroaches in Autumn -- The bone -- A few things wrong with me -- Sketches for a life of Wassilly -- City employment -- Two sisters -- The mother -- Therapy -- French lesson I: Le meurtre -- Once a very stupid man -- The housemaid -- The cottages -- Safe love -- Problem -- What an old woman will wear -- The sock -- Five signs of distrubance --

Almost no memory (1997). Meat, my husband -- Jack in the country -- Foucault and pencil -- The mice -- The thirteenth woman -- The professor -- The cedar trees -- The cats in the prison recreation hall -- Wife One in country -- The fish tank -- The center of the story -- Love -- Our kindness -- A natural disaster -- Odd behavior -- St. Martin -- Agreement -- In the Garment District -- Disagreement -- The actors -- What was interesting -- In the Everglades -- The family -- Trying to learn -- To reiterate -- Lord Royston's tour -- The other -- A friend of mine -- This condition -- Go away -- Pastor Elaine's newsletter -- A man in our town -- A second chance -- Fear -- Almost no memory -- Mr. Knockly -- How he is often right -- The rape of the Tanuk women -- What I feel -- Lost things -- Glen Gould -- Smoke -- From below, as a neighbor -- The great-grandmothers -- Ethics -- The house behind -- The outing -- A position at the university -- Examples of confusion -- The race of the patient motorcyclists -- Affinity --

Samuel Johnson is indignant (2001). Boring friends -- A mown lawn -- City people -- Betrayal -- The white tribe -- Our trip -- Special chair -- Certain knowledge from Herodotus -- Priority -- The meeting -- Companion -- Blind date -- Examples of Remember -- Old Mother and the grouch -- Samuel Johnson is indignant: -- New Year's resolution -- First grade: handwriting practice -- Interesting -- Happiest moment -- Jury duty -- A double negative -- The old dictionary -- Honoring the subjunctive -- How difficult -- Losing memory -- Letter to a funeral parlor -- Thyroid diary -- Information from the North concerning the ice: -- Murder in Bohemia -- Happy memories -- They take turns using a word they like -- Marie Curie, so honorable woman -- Mir the Hessian -- My neighbors in a foreign place -- Oral history (with hiccups) -- The patient -- Right and wrong -- Alvin the Typesetter -- Special -- Selfish -- My husband and I -- Spring spleen -- Her damage -- Workingmen -- In a northern country -- Away from home -- Company -- Finances -- The transformation -- Two sisters (II) --The furnace -- Young and poor -- The silence of Mrs. Iln -- Almost over: separate bedrooms -- Money --

Varieties of disturbance (2007). A man from her past -- Dog and me -- Enlightened --The good taste contest -- Collaboration with fly -- Kafka cooks dinner -- Tropical storm -- Good Times -- Idea for a short documentary film -- Forbidden subjects -- Two types -- The senses -- Grammar questions -- Hand -- The caterpillar -- Child care -- We miss you: a study of get-well letters from a class of fourth-graders -- Passing wind -- Television -- Jane and the cane -- Getting to know your body -- Absentminded -- Southward bound, reads Worstward Ho -- The walk -- Varieties of disturbance -- Lonely -- Mrs. D and her maids -- 20 sculptures in one hour -- Nietszche -- What you learn about the baby -- Her mother's mother -- How it is done -- Insomnia -- Burning family members -- The way to perfection -- The fellowship -- Helen and Vi: a study in health and vitality -- Reducing expenses -- Mother's reaction to my travel plans -- For sixty cents -- How shall I mourn them? -- A strange impulse -- How she could not drive -- Suddenly afraid -- Getting better -- Head, heart -- The strangers -- The busy road -- Order -- The fly -- Traveling with mother -- Index entry -- My son -- Example of the continuing past tense in a hotel room -- Cape Cod diary -- Almost over: what's the word? -- A different man.