Saturday, May 14, 2011

When In Doubt

When in doubt, read a short story by Raymond Carver

5 comments:

Sypha said...

I've never read Carver. I'm not sure how I feel about him. At work we sell an anthology he edited of what he felt were some of the best American short stories, but something about the tone of his introduction really irritated me. It was kind of the vibe of, "we were looking for realistic stories about every day, recognizable people doing realistic things," and came off (I felt) as very reactionary and anti-experimental/postmodern.

Mark Gluth said...

Listen, I understand what you mean, but I get this trippy feeling when I read his stuff, like he is experimental/post modern to me. Anyway, he's a god.

Sypha said...

I'll have to check him out one day, Mark (at the very least, one of my other favorite short story writers, Thomas Ligotti, has spoken highly of him). Are there any of his books you'd recommend as a good starting place?

Mark Gluth said...

'Will You Please be Quiet Please?" The original version (Edited by Gordon Lish, not the new version released by his Widow.....dont ask) Or just click on his name in this post and read that story....as indicative of his best work as anything.

Sypha said...

Thanks for the tip Mark, I'll have to look into it... I actually think we have both versions at the B&N I work at.