Welcome to Litsy!

I loved this collection of essays of 58 novellas recommended by Davis. Each entry includes opening line, plot synopsis, biographical information, an argument to convince you to read it & further recommendations. At the back of the book is a list of several more great short books. There are obvious entries: Animal Farm & The Great Gatsby, however the choice of book by some authors was surprising (Evil Under the Sun & Surfacing come to mind). (cont)

As I have mentioned numerous times before the past couple of years I have had a real appreciation of short form works, so Davis' collection of 58 books around 200 pages (nearly all fiction), was intriguing from the moment i first read about it. Each entry contains: opening lines, a plot summary that offers enough enticing details about the book to intrigue without spoiling major plot points, fascinating biographical details, a thoughtful (cont.)

In the entry for The Great Gatsby I just learned that there's going to be a Great Gatsby musical. As someone who loves Florence and the Machines, I admit I'm intrigued.

The biographical notes in this book are very interesting. I just read that Carson McCullers at one point lived in a house with Auden. Richard Wright, who had favorably reviewed Heart is a Lonely Hunter, met McCullers around the same time.

I think Parnassus is right that this would make a great gift with one or two short books, if you could swing it. Davis gives plot summaries and brief author biographies as well as his own thoughts on 58 short books by everyone from Hemingway to Morrison. Some books have been pushed up my TBR (The Hours, Lucy) and others I had never heard of at all and am now dying to read (Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit). I‘ll tag these ⬇️

I just came across Davis' book in the article linked below on the joys of novellas. Scheduled for publication next month, this account of a year of reading novellas sounds very intriguing. I have always greatly enjoyed works that can be read in fewer sittings & several of my favorite reads this year are novellas.
https://www.ft.com/content/ce0aa969-e20b-4ca9-9e5a-2adaa8f3b696