Raymond Carver anyone?

[desiresjab]

I get the feeling he is not so widely known, but in excellent critical standing. He was pegged as a minimalist early on, a tag he did not like. I have probably read about half of his stories, and some are indeed memorable and come back later with haunting images and scenes.

It is also said that he preceded each story by working out certain details in a poem. He did not have a large output, partly attributable to an early death at 50. He was an alcoholic. I have no idea whether the poem Wine was story fodder or not.

http://www.johnnylogic.org/?p=432

[Jack of Hearts]

He was tremendously widely known and is considered a major American author from the 20th century. He worked exclusively in short stories/poetry, that is to say, no novels.

And, not to gush like a fan girl, but one of Jack of Hearts' professors was his close friend. Le sigh.

It seems he had at least a pretty good output, having a solid 20 year writing career (he started publishing his stuff in the 1960's).

For further info, see: 'Dirty Realism', Richard Ford, John Cheever, The Best American Short Stories (didn't he edit a volume?), Granta Magazine, Charles Bukowski (yes, they had some involvement. Buk was in SoCal while Ray was in NorCal/Oregon. They even did readings together, see Carver's poem An Evening with Charles Bukowski/)








J

[Whosis]

Agreed about how famous he is. He's in major short story anthologies, which is why I read "The Cathedral." It's about... the story of a mostly despised blind man who teaches his friend's husband to see in new ways. I thought it was excellent. Keep in mind there was a movie recently put out by Will Ferrell called "Everything Must Go," which was based on Carver's short story "Why Don't You Dance." The movie was humorous and thoughtful enough. I never read the story. If it is true he never wrote a novel, that's a shame. I like to read novels, except in the case of Chekhov, who was brilliant.

[desiresjab]

The number of posts here proves how famous he is. On earth about a million people could tell you who he was. I do not believe he is famous or ever will be, but I believe he is lasting.

[Jack of Hearts]

Well, you're free to take as evidence the quantity of posts about him for whatever claim you want. Fact is, he was at the heart of the late 20th century revival of the short story as a form, and he is quite well known.




J