Laurie Champion, “‘What’s to Say’: Silence in Raymond Carver’s ‘Feathers,’”
Studies in Short Fiction, 34 (Spring 1997): 193–201.
Focuses on the various meanings of silences in Carver’s “Feathers” and provides
a more positive reading of them than in previous scholarship; offers insights that
could be applied to other stories by Carver featuring silence.
Ben Harker, “‘To be there, inside and not be there’: Raymond Carver and Class,”
Textual Practice, 21, 4 (2007): 715–736.
Critical examination of class in Carver’s work through a biographical context.
Sandra Lee Kleppe and Robert Miltner, eds., New Paths to Raymond Carver:
Critical Essays on His Life, Fiction, and Poetry (Columbia: University of South
Carolina Press, 2008).
Collection of critical essays addressing Carver’s poems and fiction from an inter-
national group of scholars. They cover a range of thematic and aesthetic issues
shedding light on his thematic concerns (death, voyeurism, television, alcohol)
and technique (diction, humor, musical quality).
John Magee, “Carver’s ‘Chef ’s House,’” Explicator, 56, 2 (1997): 111–112.
Interpretation of Carver’s “Chef ’s House” as “an accurate step-by-step portrayal
of an alcoholic’s denial”; a similar approach could be taken to other stories about
alcoholic characters.
Jay McInerney, “A Still, Small Voice,” New York Times Book Review, 6 August
1989, p. 1.
Recapitulation of Carver’s life and influence by a former student.
Adam Meyer, Raymond Carver (New York: Twayne, 1995).
A literary biography of Carver, including critical summaries of selected stories
from each volume of his published work and a chapter devoted to his poetry.
Kirk Nesset, The Stories of Raymond Carver: A Critical Study (Athens: Ohio Uni-
versity Press, 1995).
Critical examination of Carver’s work with attention to the themes of love, the
minimalist aesthetic, insularity and self-enlargement, and communication and
control.
Motoko Rich, “The Real Carver: Expansive or Minimal?” New York Times, 17
October 2007, p. 1.
Identifies Gordon Lish, Carver’s former editor, as the creator of Carver’s mini-
malist writing style and explains Tess Gallagher’s attempts to republish the stories
collected in What We Talk about When We Talk about Love in their original expan-
sive form.
Randolph Paul Runyon, Reading Raymond Carver (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse
University Press, 1992).
Critical readings of stories from Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, What We Talk
about When We Talk about Love, Cathedral, and Carver’s later stories.