SOUNDTRACK: THE AVETT BROTHERS-“Open Ended Life” (2013).
The folks at NPR love The Avett Brothers, and while I can see the appeal of their live show, their studio output just sounds like typical Americana to me. Not bad by any means, but nothing all that special–honky tonk swing, occasional harmonica and expected harmonies.
The album was produced by Rick Rubin, which would have surprised me a few years ago but after his work with Johnny Cash it makes a lot of sense.
This song is a pretty rollicking good time (and the pretty ooohs are something of a surprise) especially by the end when everybody joins in–I’ll bet this is a hoot live. The melody is certainly catchy. I just want to like it more than I do.
[READ: October 1, 2013] “The Two Davises and the Rug”
Even though I recently complained about flash fiction, there is one author who does a very good job with it. And that author is Lydia Davis. She can generate an entire story out of a very simple concept . And while some of her flash fiction falls into that “it’s just a sketch, not a story” world, her longer short stories pack a lot in.
Like this one. The entire premise of this story is that two people are interested in the same rug. And they are both named Davis (bt are unrelated).
This Davis purchased the rug many years ago and has grown tired of it. When her apartment complex has a sale for charity she puts in the rug and asks $10 for it. But the sales people mark it up to $50 (it’s for charity after all). No one buys the rug but another tenant across the way (also named Davis) is interested in it. But that Davis doesn’t buy the rug. And when the sales is over this David takes the rug back home while that Davis wishes he had bought it.
The fun part of the story is that both Davises are indecisive. So, this Davis wonders if she should sell the rug to that Davis and if so, for how much. But if he really wanted it, maybe she should keep it, maybe it’s better than she realized. And that Davis is unsure how well it will go in his house and he wonders if may be he could try it for a time first. But this Davis is reluctant to give it up in case he really likes it or in case she really likes it. And maybe she should give $50 to charity since she didn’t sell it.
And the story goes on like the, with insecurities running rampant. Fortunately it’s not a very long story (this is one instance where the short version pays off handsomely). And after we have gone through the various permutations, it may be hard for even us to know what those Davises should do.
I tried reading a bunch of Lydia Davis a year or so ago and just don’t much dig her work. I mean, it’s funny enough and occasionally kind of interesting, but mostly, I feel like “why am I bothering with these trivial stories” or as if I’m just missing out on an inside joke. I often feel the same way about poetry. It’s not a problem with the short story as a medium or even with flash stories (as these can pack a wallop sometimes) but with what struck me as a pretty consistent lack of wallop in what I read of Davis’s stories. Maybe I just read the wrong ones.
I’m with you Daryl. Sometimes her stories really work, but most of the time I think, Huh, that was interesting. I think I appreciate the form but not necessarily the execution. I am coming around on poetry, but i feel like once the initial “look, a short story in one paragraph” novelty wears off, it’s a dull genre. Maybe I just like Lydia Davis more because she has produced so much more so there’s more good ones?
[…] Stories” in which they covered Lydia Davis shorts and Jane Curtain was hosting. The story The Two Davis’ and the Rug was extremely entertaining and just my kind of humor. I didn’t go inside because after walking […]