Instructor

Mary Anderson

Class Type 

Literature

Course Description

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love established Raymond Carver as the “foremost practitioner of minimalist fiction.” Find out why it did not accurately represent the manuscript he originally submitted for publication. We will spend this quarter discovering, investigating, and pondering Carver's fiction and how he managed to “breathe new life” into the short stories of the 1970s and ‘80s. He wrote “unsparingly about desperation and betrayal, about working-class frustrations, the rift between the sexes, and the ravages of alcohol” (Stull & Carroll, editors). Though his prose incorporated lyricism and compassion, it was complicated by his relationship with Gordon Lish, friend and editor. We will look at stories from Beginners, Cathedral, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? and more. See how knowing and understanding a master of early fiction helps your writing and expands your version of short story history and development.

Textbook

Raymond Carver: Collected Stories
Series: Library of America (Book 195)
Publisher: Library of America; Definitive ed. edition 2009
ISBN: 9781598530469