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Boots!

Where would we be without books?

Where would we be without good?

No, Zintuberg.

It's a rhetorical question, sir.

But where would we need without books?

From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Michael Silverblatt, and welcome to Bookworm.

Today, my guest is Lydia Davis.

Her new book, A Collection of Stories, is called Can't and Won't.

Lydia Davis has won the International Booker Award for her collected stories, which was her

last book. Now, this book is on the New York Times bestseller list. Who would have thought

it's a sign that almost anything can happen? It's a great relief for those of us who want

to see the bestseller list and see a book that is a friend on that list.

And now Lydia Davis is there with can't and won't.

And I thought I'd begin right away by asking Lydia to read the title piece.

I'd be happy to can't and won't.

I was recently denied a writing prize because they said I was lazy.

What they meant by lazy was that I used too many contractions.

For instance, I would not write out in full the words cannot and will not,

but instead contracted them to can't and won't.

As simple as pie, and yet, the mind has to ask, what writing prize would call you lazy because of a dependency on contractions?

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