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Sunday, December 28, 2008

Books Reading Today

Posted by Paul Constant on Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 10:03 AM

Raymond.Carver.jpg

He looked kind of like a Romulan, didn't he?

There is an open mic tonight, but no book readings.

Instead, you should read Raymond Carver's story "Why Don't You Dance?" It's one of my all-time favorites of his, and I think a perfect antidote to the belief that some people hold about Carver; once I posted about him and someone in the comments asked something like "Isn't he one of those people that only writing students read?" David Schmader, if I recall correctly responded before I could. His response? "No." Give Carver a shot, if you haven't. There's very little of the modern short story ennui on display in his stories.

The readings calendar is here.

Comments (7) RSS

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Best Carver story: "So Much Water So Close to Home"

Posted by cay on December 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM

Carver is the bomb... I like the story where the ostrich eats at the table during the dinner party....
Unrelated- I just read Henry James' "Four Meetings" yesterday.... An ultimate killer classic shorty....

Posted by justin on December 28, 2008 at 12:10 PM

I have not read Carver for years, but he use to haunt my town of Chico CA. I just read The Traveler by Ron McLarty who is also an actor as well as a very good writer. I think Carver fans would like him too.

Posted by Kasey K. on December 28, 2008 at 12:22 PM

I lump Carter in with the whole intellectuals writing about baseball crowd back in the early 90s.

Posted by Wears Cap Backwards, 32/m/nyc on December 28, 2008 at 1:01 PM

Raymond Carver is wonderful. The short story collection "Cathedral" is his best work. Read it!

Posted by Andrew on December 28, 2008 at 1:48 PM

#4
More like a farm-league player writing about baseball. Maybe Gordon Lish was the intellectual.

Gotta read ALL of his stuff. I love, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, They’re Not your Husband, Night School, Are These Actual Miles?, A Serious Talk, Gazebo...

Posted by brentbilly on December 28, 2008 at 3:34 PM

Yay for the Carver love! And, incidentally, if you're talking baseball writing: I don't even like baseball, but Roger Angell is a great baseball writer. I love his stuff the most.

Posted by Paul Constant on December 29, 2008 at 10:11 AM