The following version of this story was used to create the guide: Davis, Lydia. "The Center of the Story." The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. Picador, 2009. Pages 173 - 177.

In Lydia Davis's third person narrative, "The Center of the Story," a nameless woman of indiscriminate age has just finished writing a story. Though the creative project is complete, it continues to trouble the woman. The story is partially about a hurricane. However, in the story, the hurricane never touches the city, and so it feels flat and insignificant. The story is not just about the hurricane though. It is also about religion. When the woman first began writing it, she was disinterested in writing anything to do with religion. Yet something compelled her about the topic.

The real issue for the woman is that her story seems to have no center.

In truth, the woman lived through a hurricane herself. As she waited for the storm to arrive, she began reading the Bible. She was not reading it merely because she was afraid of the coming storm, but because she had a deep curiosity about what the Bible contained. Her Biblical studies lasted several days. Because the Bible was so significant to her during the storm, she decides she should leave it in her story, too.

She is unsure, however, if she should retain the landlady, the mayor, and the newscasters in her story. There is also a man in the story. He seems more important to keep. He called her just as the storm was supposed to hit, convinced he was dying. Despite the weather, and the knowledge that the man was not in fact on his deathbed, the woman visited him. Perhaps, she thinks, she should omit him from the story. Then she remembers that when he called her he started talking about God and religious matters. This conversation must be included in her story.

As she continues weighing the significance of each of her story's elements, the woman becomes increasingly unsure. Everything seems simultaneously insignificant and vital. Then she remembers the various churches she visited before the storm. While attending a Baptist service, she became nervous and faint. She had to dismiss herself from the sanctuary and hide in the bathroom.

She then decides that the center of her story might be the moment she realized she had spiritual peace without having faith. She then boards a train and departs the city. On the train, she looks out the window and thinks about the devil. The storm has passed, and the river has not overflowed. These thoughts lead her to reconcile with her beliefs, her story, and her life.