Raymond Carver: An Oral Biography

By Sam Halpert

Book Overview

Raymond Carver has become a literary icon for our time. When he died in 1988 at the age of fifty, he was acclaimed as the greatest influence on the American short story since Hemingway. Carver's friends were the stuff of legend as well. In this rich collection--greatly expanded from the earlier When We Talk about Raymond Carver--of interviews with close companions, acquaintances, and family, Sam Halpert has chronologically arranged the reminiscences of Carver's adult life, recalling his difficult "Bad Raymond" days through his second life as a recovering alcoholic and triumphantly successful writer. The result is a spirited Irish wake--toasts, anecdotes, lies, songs, confessions, laments--all beautifully orchestrated by Halpert into a very readable and moving narrative.

These funny, poignant, intensely remembered interviews juxtapose personal anecdotes and enlightening criticism. Memory mixes with analysis, and a lively picture of Carver emerges as we hear different stories about him--of the same story told from different viewpoints. He is here presented as hero, victim, and even villain--Carver's readers will recognize the woof and warp of his stories in these affectionate narratives.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877455031
• ISBN13: 9780877455035
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: University of Iowa Press
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating, Essential for Any Carver Fan

This is a brave book. It attempts to examine Carver the person over Carver the myth. While they're not all that different, one thing that is very memorable in reading this oral history is that Carver, when he was with his first wife and drinking, appeared to create drama in part as a way of creating not only material for his work, but also an identity as a writer -- at least that is the impression his friends leave when talking about him in his earlier days as an up and coming short story writer and poet. This book is most definitely respectful of Carver, his family, and most definitely respectful of his work. But it is also a probing look at how others saw Carver: Most saw him as a total artist committed to writing about the working class. All, it seems, saw him as nothing less than a good guy, or at the least, someone trying to be as good of a guy as he could given the alcoholism that plagued him for much of his life. Once Carver stopped drinking, he seems to have blossomed not only as a writer but as a human being. As a result, reading this is not only touching, it's inspirational. What's left out is also telling. Carver's son refused to cooperate with this project.