Raymond Carver: An Oral Biography
Though this oral biography confesses to being a "toast" to a "beloved man," it is an engrossing, touching, and insightful remembrance of Carver by his family, friends, and fellow writers. We see the devastating effects of Carver's long bout with alcoholism and the pitiful poverty in which he, his first wife, and two children lived. Carver emerges as a funny and lovable man, despite his occasional alcohol-induced abusiveness. He recovered from his alcoholism and wrote productively once again for several years before his early death from lung cancer in 1988. These reminiscences include many insights into the sources and literary qualities of his writings. This highly readable oral biography is an expanded and rearranged version of When We Talk About Raymond Carver (Gibbs Smith, 1991). It should be included in good collections on 20th-century literature, especially those that did not acquire the earlier edition.?Peter Dollard, Alma Coll. Lib., Mich.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.