By the end of the chapbook (it’s only 37 pages) the three cows have become five, echoing the cycles that occupy the center of this impressionistic work. It’s the most simple stuff, but by slowing down to take a look, day in and day out, Davis reminds us of the profundity of everythingeven creatures who do not know the words person,’ neighbor,’ watch,’ or even cow.’”
David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times
She has translated Proust and Flaubert and published a 752-page short-story collection, but in this smaller project, Davis observes the movements of three cows that live across the road. Her pitch-perfect ear, eye for detail and the classical quietude of her prose allow us to see these creatures in a new light.”
Moe’s Books, San Francisco Chronicle
"This is Davis at her most playful, though, again, calmly and patiently. . . . Cows have their own apparel of momentary permanence, and capturing it is the ultimate exercise of Lydia Davis’s prose. Zeroed in, that everything about the cows seems inevitable and eternal."
David Bartone, The Rumpus
"Davis' lovely chapbook is an exercise in simplicity."
Vikas Turakhia, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“By the end of the chapbook (it’s only 37 pages) the three cows have become five, echoing the cycles that occupy the center of this impressionistic work. It’s the most simple stuff, but by slowing down to take a look, day in and day out, Davis reminds us of the profundity of everything—even creatures who “do not know the words ‘person,’ ‘neighbor,’ ‘watch,’ or even ‘cow.’”
—David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times
“She has translated Proust and Flaubert and published a 752-page short-story collection, but in this smaller project, Davis observes the movements of three cows that live across the road. Her pitch-perfect ear, eye for detail and the classical quietude of her prose allow us to see these creatures in a new light.”
—Moe’s Books, San Francisco Chronicle
"This is Davis at her most playful, though, again, calmly and patiently. . . . Cows have their own apparel of momentary permanence, and capturing it is the ultimate exercise of Lydia Davis’s prose. Zeroed in, that everything about the cows seems inevitable and eternal."
—David Bartone, The Rumpus
"Lydia Davis’s The Cows brought me back to every instance in which I stared at my childhood pets wondering 'what are they thinking about?'...The Cows thus depicts an ambling, relatively tranquil (but quietly humorous) existence for these creatures, at least through Davis’s eyes...[A] thoroughly satisfying read."
—The Poetry Cafe
"Davis' lovely chapbook is an exercise in simplicity."
—Vikas Turakhia, Cleveland Plain Dealer