Raymond Carver: An Oral Biography - Softcover

Halpert, Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0877455031 ISBN 13: 9780877455035

Publisher: University Of Iowa Press, 1995

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Halpert, a native of Brooklyn, New York, served as a navigator on B-17 bombers, flying more than thirty-five missions over Nazi Germany. After the war, he worked as a teacher and typographer until his retirement to Miami, Florida.

From Library Journal

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0877455031
• ISBN 13: 9780877455035
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 206