Lydia Davis, the proficient short stories, novelist, and translator, has an estimated net worth of $2 to $5 million.
Key Takeaways
- Lydia Davis, the famous writer, has an estimated net worth of $2-$5 million, earned through her published works.
- Her newer book isn’t available on Amazon due to her opinion about monopolistic bookselling.
- Davis is currently married to Alan Cote, and before that, she married the late Paul Auster.
She is considered “one of the most original minds in American fiction today” and has produced several translations of literary classics in French and other languages.
The award-winning writer’s popular work includes “Almost No Memory” (stories, 1997), “The End of the Story” (novel, 1995), “Break It Down” (stories, 1986), “Story and Other Stories” (1983), and “The Thirteenth Woman” (stories, 1976).
Linguistic perfection is what you get from her books, which are quite unique in contemporary American literature. She packs so much meaning into such short stories that have earned her the admiration of hundreds of writers worldwide. Award the 2022 Nobel Prize to Lydia Davis. pic.twitter.com/1U0Z33yiOF
— Luis Panini (@TheLuisPanini) September 30, 2022
Often described as “the master of a literary form largely of her own invention,” the author has only written one novel, the 1995 “The End of the Story.”
Regardless, she is best known for her short stories, which can be as little as one or two lines.
According to Penguin Random House, her 2013 short story “Can’t and Won’t” was a New York Times bestseller.
That means it sold more than 5,000 copies in a week, and she must have earned a huge profit.
144 new short stories by Lydia Davis pic.twitter.com/BcBzPlIhq5
— Chris Power (@chris_power) August 14, 2023
On the other hand, Lydia’s newest book, “Our Strangers,” is a collection of 144 short stories that was released on October 5, 2023.
She could have easily secured a huge bag by selling the collection on Amazon, the world’s largest online store.
However, she refused to sell her art on Amazon as it is only available in physical stores and selected online sites.
Read the best writers . . . I tried Joyce’s Ulysses three times before I read it all the way through. (It helped that I was living in Ireland at the time, where I saw Joycean and Beckettian characters all around me.)
— Just Joyce (@johnstonglenn) July 15, 2023
– Lydia Davis, born OTD in 1947 pic.twitter.com/KjtbZD0zwZ
Explaining her reason, Davis said that she is deeply concerned about monopolistic bookselling.
She hopes that this decision will open the conversation about diverse publishing ecosystems and assist independent booksellers.
In addition, she has proudly said, “I’m not worried about fame and glory.”
On her journey of becoming a writer, Davis said that she was probably always headed to being there; however, it wasn’t her first love.
She added, “I guess I must have always wanted to write in some part of me, or I wouldn’t have done it.”
The Author Was Married To The Legendary Paul Auster
Lydia Davis has been married twice in her life and has one child each from the marriage.
She was initially married to Paul Auster in 1974 and had a son, Daniel, who passed away in 2022 from a drug overdose.
Auster was a writer and film director whose books have been translated into more than forty languages.
After their divorce, Lydia married abstract painter Alan Cote. They had a son, Theo, who is credited for her author’s photographs.
Sadly, Paul Auster has recently passed away due to complications of lung cancer. May his soul rest in peace!
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Lydia Davis was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, on July 15, 1947, to father Robert Gorham Davis and mother Hope Hale Davis.
- She studied at Barnard College, and at that time, she mostly wrote poetry.
- In addition to writing, Davis is passionate about fighting climate change and is part of a climate committee in her village.
