Guy Davenport was a writer, translator, illustrator, teacher, and scholar. He is best known for his modernist-style short stories, but his range of works is wide. He was a professor of English, having taught most of his life at the University of Kentucky. Davenport published over 40 books, among them collections of short stories, translations from the Greek, illustrated works, a novel, and critical studies on literature, culture, and art. He often joked that he had only 13 readers, but he also asserted that he didn't write "for scholars or fellow critics, but for people who like to read, to look at pictures, and to know things." He traded mail with more than 2,300 people, including John Updike, Cormac McCarthy, and Joyce Carol Oates. Many considered him one of the greatest prose stylists of his generation. Donald Barthelme, a celebrated fellow writer, once greeted Davenport at an award ceremony with "I read you in hardback."