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Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life

by Carol Sklenicka (Goodreads Author)

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 335 ratings · 67 reviews

The first biography of america’s best-known short story writer of the late twentieth century.

The London Times called Raymond Carver "the American Chekhov." The beloved, mischievous, but more modest short-story writer and poet thought of himself as "a lucky man" whose renunciation of alcohol allowed him to live "ten years longer than I or anyone expected."

In that last decad...more

Hardcover, 592 pages

Published November 24th 2009 by Scribner (first published September 8th 2009)

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52nd out of 100 books — 122 voters

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Jul 29, 2011 Catherine Woodman added it

This is not a biography that tears up the page--it has a kind of plodding pedantic style (which may very well reflect the author's life, but was not a page turner to read, if you know what I mean). Caver comes from humble beginnings, and is inspired by his father to tell stories--his father tells them orally and he wants to be a writer, but that is the tradition that he is coming from--poetry and the short story become his form. The tale of his marriage, followed by what happened afterward is on...more

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Jan 03, 2010 Joshua rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this bio. Well, let me rephrase: I liked Sklenicka's involvement, appreciated her thorough research and detailed rendering of Carver's entire life. The whole book read like a well paced novel, exciting at turns, characters well developed. All in all, a very satisfying read.

But the word "liked" doesn't feel appropriate, as the reader learns in such painstaking detail that Carver was such a bastard when he drank--physically abusive and unfaithful to his wife, emotionally unavailable...more

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Feb 08, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mar-apr-2010

Not merely a great biography, but often an astute critical assessment of Carver's writing as well (San Francisco Chronicle), Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life breaks new ground by tying the significant events of Carver's life to his stories and then using those connections as a means of studying both the man and his work. Though the Christian Science Monitor took issue with Sklenicka's focus on the unsavory details of the author's private life, critics were generally satisfied with Sklenicka's scr...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Guy Salvidge rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a fine biography of a famous writer I've only just started reading. Not knowing much at all about Carver's life, I read with interest about his impoverished upbringing and meteoric rise to fame in what proved to be the last decade of his life. What stands out for me here is what a shithead Carver was for most of the time, especially to his family and especially to his long-suffering first wife, Maryann. Carver seems to have spent twenty years or so on a long bender, and when he finally d...more

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Feb 09, 2010 Deborah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Despite the fact that I was unfamiliar with Raymond Carver, I found Ms. Sklenicka's biography to be a fascinating and detailed account of a troubled author. The saga of this well-known author of short stories was disturbing to me due to Carver's alcoholism and eventual decline into the depths of that disease. The only thing which kept me reading once this bottom was near was that I was aware that he eventually stopped drinking.
I lived in Northern California during the time Carver and his family...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a compelling must-have for Carver fans and fans of short fiction in general. Sklenicka's documentation is immense and I felt spellbound by her book. I came away both admiring Carver's creativity more and admiring especially his first wife Maryann Carver for the raw deal she got after devoting so many years, and sacrificing her own life, to Carver's success. She was a smart, gifted woman and so many of his stories are her stories too. I can imagine the pain involved in being the muse that...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Joan Colby rated it 5 of 5 stars

It’s clear that without the unflagging support of his first wife, Maryann, Carver might never have achieved success as a writer. Married in their teens and quickly the parents of two children, both Carver and his wife had ambition and pursued educational goals which were often interrupted by the need to make a living, which largely fell on Maryann’s shoulders. She toiled at menial jobs such as waitressing for years until she finished her degree and was able to get teaching jobs,. Carver vacillat...more It’s clear that without the unflagging support of his first wife, Maryann, Carver might never have achieved success as a writer. Married in their teens and quickly the parents of two children, both Carver and his wife had ambition and pursued educational goals which were often interrupted by the need to make a living, which largely fell on Maryann’s shoulders. She toiled at menial jobs such as waitressing for years until she finished her degree and was able to get teaching jobs,. Carver vacillated between low-level jobs, teaching stints and later fellowships and seminars. They moved frequently, often to elude bill collectors (they declared bankruptcy twice for a “new start”, but quickly went back to their spendthrift ways; not in lifestyle, as they rented cheap houses and lived in an impoverished manner but on travel, student loans and in particular liquor—the booze bill totaled over $1,000 monthly in the 70’s). Some of their changes of address were generated by Carver’s impulsiveness. His vacillating nature and increased dependence on alcohol made for a turmoil filled personal life, the themes of which fueled his stories and poems.

Domestic dysfunction was a major component of his work. His vaunted minimalist style was in part the invention of his friend and Esquire editor Gordon Lish who prided himself as an architect of the stories submitted to him. Many writers complied with his intrusions into their work—initially edits, but increasingly additions which might alter the writer’s intent. Yet the wish to be published in a national magazine such as Esquire influenced them with notable exceptions such as Vladimir Nabakov who was insulted and withdrew his submissions. Carver, however, was so eager for the exposure, and also the money, that he agreed to Lish’s changes. Lish even imposed his vision on the stories that comprised Carver’s first full-length book, altering many of the pieces from the originally published versions.

Liquor added to the Carvers marital woes, as did infidelity. Yet the bond between them was strong and Maryann, convinced that Carver would become a major literary figure, put up with his escalating drunkenness. And she drank along with him, though she finally joined AA in an attempt to get her life together. Amazingly, at the age of 39 after several failed attempts, Carver quit drinking for good, and a bit later Maryann followed his example. Unfortunately, this did not solve their problems, as the marriage seemed empty when the alcoholic dramas were removed. Having renounced alcohol, Carver’s life improved vastly, as he published, taught, gave seminars and became a well-known figure. He received a tax-free grant which enabled him to cease teaching and devote himself primarily to writing. During this period, he met the poet Tess Gallagher and they soon became a couple. Carver embarked on writing poetry (he had already had a collection of poems published) and his stories returned to his original more descriptive style.

A lifelong smoker, Carver developed lung cancer in his late 40’s, which ultimately metastasized to other organs causing his death at the age of 51. Doubtless, he will always be remembered as the father of the minimalist movement, a title he disliked.

While this biography is certainly exhaustive, it is highly readable and dissects the character and work of Carver effectively.
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Dec 21, 2009 Moira Russell rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-50-new-books-challenge, underwhelmed

This book made it a great deal more difficult for me to love Raymond Carver.

I had much the same reaction reading the other Big Biography of the season, on Cheever -- Cheever did abuse his family terribly while drinking, even to the extent of writing nasty stories about them while they were still living, just as Carver did. But at least Cheever, in his very late sobriety (seven years before he died of cancer) made it up somewhat to his children and wife, and his family now enjoy the royalties and...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Chuck O'Connor rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: John Hawkinson

Recommended to Chuck by: NA

This is an impressive piece of reportage. Cklenicka does her homework and the extensive end notes show it. The sub-title offers what the book is, "A Wrtier's LIFE" (emphasis mine), and the examination of who Carver was as a person is exhaustive (and at times exhausting). The failing of the book comes with its choice to keep Carver's artistic process and philosophy a mystery. The man comes off as an alcoholic idiot savant whose sociopathic pattern of manipulation towards dependent reliance on fri...more This is an impressive piece of reportage. Cklenicka does her homework and the extensive end notes show it. The sub-title offers what the book is, "A Wrtier's LIFE" (emphasis mine), and the examination of who Carver was as a person is exhaustive (and at times exhausting). The failing of the book comes with its choice to keep Carver's artistic process and philosophy a mystery. The man comes off as an alcoholic idiot savant whose sociopathic pattern of manipulation towards dependent reliance on friends, his wife, and editors makes Gordon Lish's apocryphal assertion that Lish "created" Carver plausible. But the actions Carver takes and the success he has as an author and teacher contradicts the inference that he was channeling a muse towards automatic writing. I'd have liked this book more if the author would have given illustration into the passion Carver had for his craft, both as a writer and reader of fiction, with an eye to the author's process. We get many stories of his self-destruction through alcoholism and his slow decline to cancer, where friends and former students assert Carver's attention to detail in writing and his coherent explanations of why literature is great, but we don't get a sense of the process the man had beyond these generalized descriptions. I'd have liked to know through a critical look with comparison and contrast of Carver to his heroes how Carver advanced the work that inspired him with the unique insight that made his stories great. I think the choice to keep the inner life of Carver distant is intentional, and I have a theory that Sklenicka chose this perspective to mirror the observational irony Carver employed in his fiction. We get clues to the man's ideas through chapter epigraphs born from snatches of writing he adored enough to transcribe in his notebooks, but we never get a clear critical commentary on the meta-cognition these snatches made towards Carver's philology. The unfortunate consequence of Sklenicka's choice to mirror her author's commitment to unsentimental observation leads to a dry exposition of the man's art. I wanted more insight into Carver's view of reality and didn't get it, but the biography did motivate me to pick up "Cathedral" and read, so maybe Sklenicka's intention was fulfilled with my willingness to return to Carver as a source. (less)

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Jan 15, 2011 Sean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

In Stephen King's New York Times review of this imposing biography, he criticizes author Carol Sklenicka for displaying "something like awe for Carver the writer" and yet being "almost nonjudgmental when it comes to Carver the nasty drunk and ungrateful husband." I have to disagree with King's interpretative synthesis in this regard. While I agree that Sklenicka refrains from outright judging Carver for his less than stellar behavior, she lays it all out on the page for the reader to digest. I c...more In Stephen King's New York Times review of this imposing biography, he criticizes author Carol Sklenicka for displaying "something like awe for Carver the writer" and yet being "almost nonjudgmental when it comes to Carver the nasty drunk and ungrateful husband." I have to disagree with King's interpretative synthesis in this regard. While I agree that Sklenicka refrains from outright judging Carver for his less than stellar behavior, she lays it all out on the page for the reader to digest. I came away from this book having formed my own opinion of the man based on her impressive primary source research. I did not need Sklenicka to decide for me what I would think about Carver, nor would I have particularly cared to hear her own opinion. While I respect and enjoy Carver as a writer, I can see that in his personal life he wreaked havoc left and right. Clearly the man put writing first from day one, and at the great cost of hurting his own family members, both through his behavior and in how he portrayed them and his relationships with them in his stories and poems. It also seems deeply unfortunate that Carver's first wife Maryann Burk and his children with her, who supported him and loved him for so long, were not able to wholly share in the greater successes he achieved later in his career. As for Sklenicka's own awe for Carver, I would question what writer willing to write such an in-depth biography (10 years in the making!) could do so with anything less than awe as a motivating force. I would personally much rather read an intelligent fan's exhaustive biography of a favorite writer than that of a dismissive academic writing at arm's length.

In another critique I read, the reviewer commented that Sklenicka brought Carver to life, but could have done as much with less. Perhaps this is true; however, I found this 489-page monster to be a complete page-turner. Never once did I get bored with this book. Sometimes I find an abundance of minutiae on such elements as family history to be a little boring, but I thought Sklenicka did an excellent job sketching out Carver's family background. The trajectory of his career was fascinating to read and the sheer number of direct quotes from colleagues, family, and close friends was both astounding and insightful.

Above all, Sklenicka's book made me want to read Raymond Carver's words even more carefully than I have in the past. She put so much of what he wrote about into context, and yet she did so in a way that makes me feel comfortable with drawing my own parallels between his life and his work.(less)

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Feb 02, 2010 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars

Well, paging through reviews, I see that Carol Sklenicka (on GoodReads) gives it five stars! Well, whaddya know.

I give this two stars under the GoodReads logic, not the quality of the book but whether one likes it or not. "It was OK" is pretty accurate as to my reaction. (Obviously a monumental amount of effort went into this book, but that doesn't mean it is all that enjoyable to read.)

I wanted to get this book because I misunderstood from a review that it provided more of a side-by-side compa...more

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Sep 20, 2009 Hannah Messler rated it 4 of 5 stars

I kind of feel like Blake Bailey has ruined me for all other biographers. No one comes close to what that guy does.

On the other hand, oh man, this is totally worth reading. The whole Lish debacle, man. I am glad to know more about that. And Tess, she's good, it turns out. It's so easy for me to be an uppity asshole about things I don't know anything about. Now I feel like, if I want to be an uppity ass, at least I'll know what I'm talking about. And anyway after reading all about it I don't fee...more

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Dec 19, 2009 Janet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir-bio, writing

Reading this bio of one of my favorite writers was an incredible ride. It transported me back to my own hopes and dreams of being a writer and living the "literary life." I read this alongside his recently published collected stories and essays as well as 1996's collected poems, "All of Us" and connected all the dots from his personal life to his writing. He's a true case in point of "write what you know." Ray was certainly the calm center of a nutty life. He was also a decent, generous man whos...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 10, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent, detailed biography. It does a good job of showing how Carver used his family life in writing his stories. The book illustrates well the amazing journey of Carver's life, and how he overcame poverty and alcoholism to realize his dream of becoming a successful writer. As a person, Carver certainly had his flaws, and the book discusses that in detail. I would have liked to see a little more discussion and analysis of individual stories, especially relating to the role of the editor, Gord...more

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Mar 04, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has come under a lot of fire for whitewashing the details of Carver's life. Many feel Sklenicka's biography leaves out many of the facts involving Carver's abuse towards his first wife Maryanne, as well as the cold treatment she and their two children received after his marriage to poet Tess Gallagher. I don't think those reviewers read all that carefully (at an exhausting 500 pages one cannot blame them) or simply refused to see between the lines. By the end of the book my allegiances...more This book has come under a lot of fire for whitewashing the details of Carver's life. Many feel Sklenicka's biography leaves out many of the facts involving Carver's abuse towards his first wife Maryanne, as well as the cold treatment she and their two children received after his marriage to poet Tess Gallagher. I don't think those reviewers read all that carefully (at an exhausting 500 pages one cannot blame them) or simply refused to see between the lines. By the end of the book my allegiances were firmly in Maryanne's court. Here is a woman who supported her husband - both financially and emotionally - for fifteen years. She worked while he wrote. He drank all the money away and sent her to the emergency room on several occasions. Then all of a sudden he gets sober, wealthy and leaves her high and dry. I'm simplifying the events of course but my point is that Sklenicka does not give Carver a free ride. He comes across as emotional, selfish, immature and self-indulgent. I guess you could say he comes across as a writer. Hence, the title.

And this is where "Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life" really succeeds. I am so put off by artist biographies in which there is so little detail concerning their body of work. I want to know what inspired the work (in this case short stories, poems and essays), firm critical analysis and what it is that caused a particular artist to catch fire. To me, all the rest - while necessary and certainly interesting - is hearsay. Sklenicka brings us all of the above and quite skillfully. She dissects nearly all of Carver's major stories and takes us through the trajectory of each.

This is especially important with Carver who has been criticized for the large amount of editing performed on his stories by Gordon Lish of Esquire. Many have gone so far as to insist Carver was an amateur and that it was Lish who pared down his stories and created the voice so recognizable in his work. Thankfully, Sklenicka not only dispels such rumors but leads us to believe Lish was a detriment to Carver, altering some of Carver’s most brilliant prose out of pure ego.

Take for example, my personal favorite of Carver's stories, "A Small, Good Thing." The plot revolves around a young boy struck down and left in a coma by an anonymous hit-and-run driver. His parents, obviously left in a fragile emotional state begin receiving harassing phone calls. Slowly they recognize the voice on the phone as the local baker who is incensed because the mother never went to pick up the boy's birthday cake that she ordered before the accident. Gish edits the piece into oblivion for its first publication. He inexplicably changes the title to "The Bath" and cuts the last scene where the boy's parents confront the baker. Carver’s original ending leads to a cathartic, beautiful scene of redemption. Lish turns the story into a cold, unfeeling piece of work without much reason to exist. There are many more examples of this and if nothing else this biography once and for all puts an end to the naysayers who insist Carver was a hack.

If someone could have used Lish's firm hand though, it is the author herself. The book does become a bit repetitive and ultimate wearing after a little while. Still, unlike most biographies it has a distinct reason for being - to show Carver as the master and forerunner of the American short story that he surely was.

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May 11, 2011 Rodney rated it 5 of 5 stars

This may be my personal favorite bio of a writer that I've ever read. It may even be the best bio period that I've been interested enough to read. Granted you can count on both hands the number of them that I've bothered to read, and still have a few fingers left over. A Writer's Life is very detailed and elaborate, but Sklenicka never loses sight of the big picture (the dedication, sacrifices, despair, and development that Carver undergoes to become one of America's greatest writers) in achievi...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Martin Tyrrell rated it 2 of 5 stars

I bought this just before Christmas. The hardback edition, no less. And in Copenhagen, where everything is about twice as expensive as it is everywhere else. Worse, by the time I got around to reading it, it was out in paperback so all those hundreds of kroner were needlessly spent. But worst of all, it is ultimately a so-so book that says little anyone interested in Carver won’t already know. And it takes the best part of 600 pages to say it.
‘…there were often great swathes of time that simpl...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Jabberwock rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

I learned more than I could have anticipated about one of my favorite author's complicated life and passions. Sklenicka conveys the mayhem of alcoholism that nearly killed him and the deep insecurities that drove him. She is unrelenting in her exploration of a life that included a remarkable number of (mostly literary) relationships - who form the basis of her research.

Sadly it seems that though he produced great art - with insight and compassion for characters in often dire circumstances - it...more

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Sep 02, 2010 Eric Kibler rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I started this book, I hadn't read any of Carver's work, but had only seen Short Cuts, the film Robert Altman had made of a clutch of his stories and one poem. While reading it, I read a couple of books worth of his short stories and one book of poems.

This is the story of the redemption of a man. The son of an alcoholic, he marries Maryann Burk, the love of his life, and they have two kids. He doggedly pursues his dream of being a writer, and until the age of thirty or so, makes steady prog...more When I started this book, I hadn't read any of Carver's work, but had only seen Short Cuts, the film Robert Altman had made of a clutch of his stories and one poem. While reading it, I read a couple of books worth of his short stories and one book of poems.

This is the story of the redemption of a man. The son of an alcoholic, he marries Maryann Burk, the love of his life, and they have two kids. He doggedly pursues his dream of being a writer, and until the age of thirty or so, makes steady progress. By the late sixties he has carved out (no pun intended) a name for himself. It is at this point that he is captured by the myth of the hard-drinking writer, and allows alcohol to become his "muse". A long, slow slide downward begins. Maryann follows him into alcoholism. There is domestic violence, parental neglect, and the work slows down to a crawl as Carver's body and mind deteriorate. Through it all, he retains his gift for friendship, surrounding himself with other drinker/writers who respond to the big, boyish lug. He moves frequently, shows a distressing ineptitude with money, and fails at several prestigious writing workshops and teaching posts.

Through all this, his editor, Gordon Lish, is instrumental in what success he manages to cobble together. Lish attacks his prose with a heavy hand, abbreviating the stories, increasing their ambiguity and their unsettling effect. As a result, Carver becomes known as the father of a new minimalism, also called "dirty realism". This stylistic label may have more to do with the reshaping Lish did on the work than with the stories as originally written.

In the late seventies, Carver bottoms out, hits AA, and finally quits drinking, although he still smokes prodigiously (both tobacco and marijuana). Although Maryann quits too, they separate and never manage to totally repair their relationship, although they remain important to one another. Ray takes up with writer Tess Gallagher, who becomes the companion of his last ten years.

These ten final years are charmed. Ray gets out from under the editorship of Lish, sheds the stylistic labels that he resented, repairs his relationship with his kids (although certain fictionalized aspects of these relationships cause hurt feelings, as do some confessional essays and poems), attains the recognition he always wanted, does a lot of fishing and spends time with his many friends. When he is eventually hit by terminal cancer in the late eighties, he never falls into self-pity, but enjoys the "Gravy" of his final days. "Gravy" is a poem he wrote about this attitude of his. If you can, pick up any collection of his poetry from the eighties to see a portrait of a man who has come to an ability to enjoy the now; to savor every moment. The collection Where Water Comes Together with Other Water: Poemsis almost an instruction manual on enjoying life.

Unfortunately, Tess Gallagher comes off in the book as greedy and grasping near the end. Gobbling up all the rights to Carver's work from Maryann and Carver's children. She saw him through his final days, though, and that's something. But Maryann was Ray's true protectress, the lioness who sacrificed everything and worked hard through Ray's dark days to enable his writing career.(less)

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Aug 16, 2010 Andrew Sydlik rated it 4 of 5 stars

Don’t have time for an in-depth review, but I enjoyed this biography of Carver. I would recommend, however, tracking down Stephen King’s review of the book in the New York Times Book Review, November 2009, for an interesting supplement. King remarks upon the fact that Sklenicka is nonjudgmental in her portrayal of Carver, perhaps downplaying his nastiness and selfishness. I both agree and disagree with King. If I remember correctly, he doesn’t necessarily bring to light anything that was not act...more Don’t have time for an in-depth review, but I enjoyed this biography of Carver. I would recommend, however, tracking down Stephen King’s review of the book in the New York Times Book Review, November 2009, for an interesting supplement. King remarks upon the fact that Sklenicka is nonjudgmental in her portrayal of Carver, perhaps downplaying his nastiness and selfishness. I both agree and disagree with King. If I remember correctly, he doesn’t necessarily bring to light anything that was not actually stated in the book, and I think that, for the most part, the author of a biography should try to be as factual as possible, not “taking sides” so to speak.

I have heard people say that this book is dry, too. Perhaps at some points it is, but not enough for me to lose interest. Actually, Carver’s life is too interesting for that to happen. Even in his sober years, there’s always some turmoil a-brewin’, either that, or he’s just constantly on the move and hobnobbing (to his own small town boy amazement) with literary superstars like Salman Rushdie.

I do share King’s indignation at Carver, though. This book definitely opened me up to some of the uglier sides of both Carver and Tess Gallagher. Carver as an egocentric drunk for a good part of his life, and when he got sober and wealthy, he was still egocentric. He could be violent and mean: one incident I remember in particular, Carver smashes Mary Ann’s head on the pavement when he thinks she’s flirting with another guy. What makes it even worse is that he was a philanderer himself.

But he could be sweet and giving as well. He did continue to support Mary Ann after their divorce, though not always as he promised. In some ways, he doted over his children, even at other times, he wrote an essay like “Fires,” where he rails at how much having children hurt his writing life (even as he was just starting to gain success). I would like to say that he was first and foremost dedicated to his art, but I think the hard truth is that he was just selfish. Not that he wasn’t a good writer.

The book does touch on his fiction and his attempts at novels and screenplays that never came to fruition. One criticism I agree with is that the critical analysis of his work is sadly lacking. It seems that literary biographies nowadays are more about looking at how works reflect actual experiences in the writer’s life—which is helpful and interesting to a point, but a more aesthetic analysis would be nice. Sklenicka also spends a lot of time looking at his poetry—again, this is interesting (I never even knew he wrote poetry!), but since his fiction is primarily what he is known for, I think this did go a bit overboard.

Not going to go too much into her discussion of Tess Gallagher. The “redheaded Irish witch,” as I believe one of Carver’s friends called her, kind of spoke against herself by refusing to speak to Sklenicka, give her side of the story. Others, who know the details better, have discussed Gallagher’s involvement. I will just say that while Sklenicka tries to show the positive sides of Gallagher—her intelligence, her efficiency handling practical and financial matters (something Carver had no skill for), and her devotion to Carver (which I don’t doubt)—and yet, there is no way for me to see a justification for what she did to Carver’s family, particularly the children. She may have been a stabilizing influence on Carver’s life, but she did benefit from her relationship to him at the expense of others. There was enough money to go around. But Tess couldn’t be happy having some, she had to have it all. Ah well.(less)

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Sep 29, 2011 James Murphy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Raymond Carver said his stories and poems were always about the "he-she of human relationships." The story of his own life as Carol Sklenicka tells it in this rich biography largely fits into that mold. All his romantic relationships were a little volatile at least, especially with the wife he married young, Maryann. Relations with his children were stormy as well. Not until he began living and working with the poet Tess Gallagher, who he married near the end of his life, did he find any true em...more Raymond Carver said his stories and poems were always about the "he-she of human relationships." The story of his own life as Carol Sklenicka tells it in this rich biography largely fits into that mold. All his romantic relationships were a little volatile at least, especially with the wife he married young, Maryann. Relations with his children were stormy as well. Not until he began living and working with the poet Tess Gallagher, who he married near the end of his life, did he find any true emotional stability. Sklenicka spends a lot of energy describing the fact of his life more well-known, his descent into alcoholism. Coupling this with his constant penury, his story becomes the arrival at and the slow crawl along the bottom, the personal desperation this caused, and its effect on his writing. His recovery from alcoholism, along with publishing success and the relationship with Gallagher, saved him. His rise is as interesting as his dissolution. Late in life he delighted in telling everyone how lucky he was.

One joy of the book is Sklenicka's ability to tell a story well. Every Carver encounter with another writer contemporary to him gives birth to a story she's able to spin in some wonderful way. And Carver, it seems, knew everybody so that virtually a Who's Who of contemporary letters strides through the book's pages. Like the actor Kevin Bacon claims to have worked with everyone in Hollywood, Carver may have been acquainted with every writer in his time. In 1977 he met the man who'd become his closest friend, Richard Ford. Another writer, Gordon Lish, was important as a friend and as an editor of Carver stories. While at Esquire and Knopf he was instrumental in getting him published, and his aggressive editing was responsible for the shape of the early stories. As Sklenicka makes clear, however, Carver the teacher and writer was more influential than influenced. Today there isn't a post-Carver poet or writer who hasn't been touched by him.

There's much to like here, like a Raymond Carver story. Sklenicka tells it all well. This is another of those epic biographies so detailed as to show the man complete and to explain how he became legend.(less)

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Jan 10, 2011 Nathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Raymond Carver's stories have always resonated with me; not that I can claim any sort of similarities to my life, but there was an authenticity to his writing and a desperation that was pervasive; his blood was on the page so to speak and he spoke so clearly and so eloquently After reading Sklenicka's brilliant biography, it's apparent that the desperation was real, that he was writing because he absolutely had to write.

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Mar 16, 2010 Alexis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

Three and a half stars. This is an incredible, very thorough biography about one of my favourite short story writers. The author must have done a phenomenal amount of research to get this much material.

I think this is an amazing book, but I would only consider recommending it to writers or hardcore Carver fans. It's pretty incredible how many writers were touched by, or knew Carver, who was definitely not a prince due to his alcoholism.

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Mar 16, 2010 Robert Vaughan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gross and intense look at the inspiring life of short story writer Ray Carver, one of my many mentors. This is such a painful book to read, only because of the choices Ray Carver made while he attempted to be a writer, husband, father. The family scrimped along on a near poverty level and yet his writing sings still to this day.

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Feb 24, 2010 Kid rated it 4 of 5 stars

Carver joins the long line of asshole self-destructive creative types who betray their families for worldly fame and acceptance. This book is devastating - as I was reading it I felt like my world was crumbling.

Sklenicka's portrait seems complete and unflinching but I wouldn't know. I never hung out with Raymond Carver (thank god).

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May 09, 2010 Marsha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although this was a tough read, I found it very interesting. I discovered Raymond Carver's short stories a few years ago when I had to read CATHEDRAL for a 20th Century American Lit class. I found this book well-researched and full of insights. It made me want to read the rest of his work, which is what I'm beginning to do now that I've finished this biography.

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Mar 27, 2010 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had one of the best reading experiences I have had in a long time. This week, I found myself surrounded by all my copies of Raymond Carver books, using Sklenicka's guidance to compare all the different versions of the stories.

As I feared, I came away liking Carver less after getting a glimpse of "Bad Ray."

I remain intrigued about Tess Gallagher's lack of involvement. I wish the author would have at least outlined if she approached her and what was the result or if she didn't, why....

And I hope...more

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Jul 24, 2010 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

Really phenomenal. Reading this the second time really reiterated how exhaustively researched it is, which is why one gets such an intimate portrait of Carver's life, so much insight, etc. etc. And, less than a year later (after my first read), Carver's death still saddened me deeply.

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May 12, 2010 Ruth Seeley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm not a fan of biographies in general, but this one was excellent. I particularly liked the way Sklenicka began chapters with quotes from books Carver was reading that corresponded to the era in his life she was describing in the biography - a very nice device indeed.

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About Carol Sklenicka

Carol Sklenicka grew up in central California in the 1960s. She attended college in San Luis Obispo, California, and graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied with Stanley Elkin, Naomi Lebowitz, and Howard Nemerov. Her stories, essays, and reviews are widely published. She spent more than ten years researching and writing the first full-length biography of Raymond Ca...more

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