A. Sabin 2008-03-13

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

but one of Dave Eggers' books referred me to her. And if Dave Eggers commented on her as "terrifyingly good" then I suspose she's pretty damn good. I will comment again after I've read the book.

J. T. Towers 2005-08-26

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A master of the short-short story. The friend who introduced me to this book -- reprinted nicely by High Risk, although I read it in the original, sadly out of print hardback -- pointed out that one probably wouldn't want to hang out with Lydia Davis. She's obsessive and a bit morbid, but she nails certain male-female relations cleanly on the head. Smart women do make bad bedmates sometimes, but their books do not.

(I am signing this as a smart woman in hopes of averting charges of sexism -- women aren't the problem I have, nor are men -- it's the obsessing over the minute details of relationships that many women and some men fall prone to.)

Michael J Edelman 2001-08-16

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

"Break it Down" is a varied collection of pieces- some as short as a paragraph, some of short stroy length, but none of them are at all like anything else you've ever read.

Some pieces seem to be simple narrative of the author's life- a small detail, dwelled on in depth and worked over until every bit of meaning is wrung out of them. Some merely evoke a mood, or a feeling.

The title story- "Break it Down"- is a man's internal monologue, reflecting on (at first) the cost of a relationship, as he tries to make sense of it, and eventually its meaning to him, and how it affected him. It is a startling honest and accurate- to this reader, at least- portrayal of the thoughts and feelings that accompany a relationship, and that mark its end. It is also a stralingly accurate portrayal of (and, one would have to assume, understanding of) a man's internal monologue given that it's being told by a woman. Or perhaps men and women are more alike in this regard than most of us suspect.

Regardless, it's a brilliant story, and by itself justifies purchase of this book. The rest is just icing on the cake.

ninjasuperstar 2001-07-12

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

I find it difficult to properly address the broad spectrum of writing in Lydia Davis' Break It Down. There are traditional stories like "Story," "What an Old Woman Will Wear," and the title story as well.

There are complex, compact, and hauntingly accurate micro-stories like "In a House Beseiged," "What She Knew," "The Fish," "City Employment," and the chilling, "The Mother."

Last, there are strange mind trips like "Liminal: The Little Man", and "French Lesson I" that challenge not only the art of writing fiction, but also expand and stretch the meaning of words and language. Davis tries very hard to get the reader to understand her complex thoughts regarding the liminal, the barely persceptible. She also guides the reader through a French lesson, where at the story's end, non-French speakers will understand the story in French. It's mind-boggling.

I give her four stars, because many of the stories miss their mark. There are either too contrived, or they are not at the level of the rest of the book. I would prefer to give her 4.5 stars, as she most assuredly deserves it.

J. Vallese 2001-06-09

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Quite a bit of "Break it Down" is amazingly good. Amazingly good because most of the stories are brief, to the point and blatant with a slight quirk to them. Not all the stories in "Break it Down" are remarkable, however, and Davis seems to get swallowed in her repetitive cycle of a confused, quietly angry woman. 3/5 (Buy "Almost No Memory," its far better)