Serious Fiction Fan Novemberr meeting

Our November reading choice is a radical change of pace: a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver called “Where I’m Calling From.”

Our parent club has selected an excellent book for their October meeting and a book of brief short stories will allow plenty of time for members of our small group to participate in both.

Carver became a literary cult hero in the eighties to readers of short stories. Three collections were published, two of which being short listed for the National Book Award. Six of the stories won the coveted O Henry Award.

His mentor, John Gardner, had insisted he write with fifteen words instead of twenty-five, and his editor at Knopf provoked endless arguments and rewrites by insisting on five words instead of fifteen. The famously alcoholic and unstable Carver raged and resisted, but many think his agonizing attempts to placate the “unreasonable” editor resulted in stories that came closer to seven or eight words instead of the fifteen, and ultimately made him the all-time genius of short story fiction. One could say he stands in a category all his own.

“Where I’m Calling From” was Carver’s attempt to “set the record straight” by finding a publisher that would reissue the best stories from the three collections as he originally wrote them. It was published in 1988, shortly before his death at age fifty. Ironically, after all the “storm and fury,” only three stories were different from those originally edited by the “hateful” editor.

Carver wrote about ordinary people stuck in ordinary situations: waitresses, salesmen, schoolteachers, and such, all facing their private frustrations around bad relationships, frustrated aspirations, grief, and other myriad problems, some of their own making and some merely bad rolls of the dice. Somewhere in the book, nearly everyone encounters a “there but for the grace of god go I” moment.

Best of all, Carver’s writing style allows the reader to continue and expand on the story according to his own inclinations. Most are masterpieces of the literary art. and many, if not most, university writing and literature programs include them.

Need a little convincing? When you get your copy, immediately go to page 114 and read “Little Things.” It’s only 506 words long, less than two pages. The last sentence jolts you like sticking your thumb into a live electrical socket, sending your imagination shooting off in nine directions at once. MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED? AND, WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE, AND WHAT BROUGHT THEM TO THIS HORRIBLE RESULT?

Hemingway wrote “iceberg stories” that famously left ninety percent unsaid. The pure genius of some Carver stories leave ninety-nine percent up to the reader.

We will start our discussion with this story and I’ll bet money ten people will have ten wildly different versions. What fun.

Each member will be the lead provocateur for two stories, and I’ll make the assignments as people RSVP. Be sure to send me your email address so I can send everyone a list of the specific stories we will discuss.

I urge you to go online today and buy the book. It’s available at www.half,com in both hard back and soft cover for just a few bucks..