By Lydia Davis
I think I know what sort of person I am. But then I think, But this stranger will imagine me quite otherwise when he or she hears this or that to my credit, for instance that I have a position at the university: the fact that I have a position at the university will appear to mean that I must be the sort of person who has a position at the university. But then I have to admit, with surprise, that, after all, it is true that I have a position at the university. And if it is true, then perhaps I really am the sort of person you imagine when you hear that a person has a position at the university. But, on the other hand, I know I am not the sort of person I imagine when I hear that a person has a position at the university. Then I see what the problem is: when others describe me this way, they appear to describe me completely, whereas in fact they do not describe me completely, and a complete description of me would include truths that seem quite incompatible with the fact that I have a position at the university.
I started reading Lydia David after I found her "Can't and Won't Stories" at Powell's City of Books in Portland, OR this past Christmas. She mesmerizes me with the observations of her own thought process. She writes line by line play by play of the internal workings of her mind....it's so entertaining to me. If we could all describe this internal dialogue as accurately and with as much humor and ease as Davis, we could all write such honest poetry. The people inside of us all...the cynic and critic, the lover, hater and hope giver...the disgusted and worrisome...the free and chained...
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