I had never read Raymond Carver before this book. The stories are depressing--nearly all of his characters are in failed relationships, drink too much, and exist in dead-end jobs. And yet there is a haunting quality to the stories that kept me turning the pages. Carver's lean prose goes at the...
My fucking head hurts. I should be writing my thesis, but the math part of crunching the data is hurting my head. It shouldn't though. It should be easy math. I'm dumber than I used to be. Instead I'll procrastinate, and share a review I wrote 6 years ago for another website that I haven't w...
Perhaps no other writer of his generation has had more impact on the shape of fiction in the latter decades of the twentieth century than Raymond Carver. From the blue-collar realism of his early writing to his expansive later stories, the cool-eyed intensity and steady witnessing of Carver's wor...
‘It ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we're talking about when we talk about love.’Life has a way of breaking even the strongest of hearts, of dashing families, friendships and lovers against the cold rocks of reality, leaving hopes and dreams to drown beneath the waves...
Had to read this book for a class, and it was not an English class.John Gardner passed away in 1982. This book was originally published one year after his death, (its first publication by Norton was in 1999). I don’t believe the 28-29 year gap makes the advice particularly dated, though it did m...
This prodigiously rich collection suggests that Raymond Carver was not only America’s finest writer of short fiction, but also one of its most large-hearted and affecting poets. Like Carver’s stories, the more than 300 poems in All of Us are marked by a keen attention to the physical world; an un...
Fact is the car needs to be sold in a hurry, and Leo sends Toni out to do it. Toni is smart and has personality. She used to sell children’s encyclopedias door to door. She signed him up, even though he didn’t have kids. Afterward, Leo asked her for a date, and the date led to this. This deal has...
“What a way to spend a day in Paris!” is what he’d like to say. Did, in fact, say. He speaks French. Has started a conversation with a white-haired guard who offers himself as our informal guide. So we move slowly, the three of us, along row upon row of graves. Everyone, it seems, is here. It’s q...
He’d been dreaming again. Using his elbows, he worked a little closer to the edge that overlooked the beach and raised his face out toward the sea. The wind struck his eyes, bringing tears. Down below, the other boys were playing war but their voices sounded watery and far away, and he tried not ...
He had to get rid of the dog without Betty or the kids finding out about it. At night. It would have to be done at night. He would simply drive Suzy – well, someplace, later he’d decide where – open the door, push her out, drive away. The sooner the better. He felt relieved making the decision. A...