Reviews for Raymond Carver

The average rating for Raymond Carver based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-05-15 00:00:00 Massimo Savino I have loved reading carver since discovering the pleasure of whisky and self pity while living in a shotgun shack in north Carolina. Carver writes all these mini stories that you can read in four minutes but which pack such impact. I've read his story "why don't you dance" many times and tried to figure out what is going on under the surface. Now of course the story is getting a ton of attention because will ferrel has turned dance into a movie. I am all for it. So this book offers all these people who knew carver telling their story and its a great read. We see more about carver and his drinking. Guests who spent the night at his house would be woken early by him banging on the door: " let's have a heart starter!" and watch carver drink bloody marts and eat donuts. This "dance" story is based on a story told to carver by a waitress who got stoned with her boyfriend and moved their crap into their front yard! Can't make it up!

Review # 2 was written on 2008-06-01 00:00:00 Daniel M Witz Aside from the expected juicy biographical details from his "Bad Raymond" days, there are some amazing insights into his writing from a bunch of his writer friends: Richard Ford, Tobias and Geoffrey Wolff, Stephen Dobyns, Jay McInerny, etc. Their insights are interesting because they demonstrate a writer's understanding of the techniques Carver employed and this provides a completely different perspective than the one you get reading commentary from critics or book reviewers. And there is a great skirmish in the interviews between Halpert and Richard Ford, with Ford taking exception to Halpert’s pursuit of the autobiographical foundations in Carver’s stories, as well as the inevitable psychoanalysis that follows. Unfortunately, Tess Gallagher pulled her interviews at the last moment, so we don’t get that perspective on his later life.