Dirty Realism

We all go on little kicks. Right now I'm into this little college band from Ohio State (go Buckeyes!) called "Saintseneca." I'm also listening to Au Revoir Simone, The Avett Brothers, and Nipsey Hussle. These are all new groups to me; the world seems fresh and young.

I'm on a Raymond Carver kick right now, too. His short stories are some of the best I've ever read. Each word is in the right place. He's one of the few writers that can use an exclamation point effectively, and even make that ostentatious punctuation mark seem sad. If only I could! His characters are fully rendered. His dialogue is surprising and incisive. Importantly, his stories, about four or five pages long each, are perfect for that eight minutes or so before I go to sleep.

Raymond Carver, before drifting in and out of marriages and bouts with alcoholism, lived in Yakima, Washington. This makes sense. I've been to Yakima way more than I've ever wanted too (a good buddy moved there after college), and it's exactly like a Carver story. The people there mean well, but they have it rough. They work a lot. They hunt and fish. They shop at stores called "Yakimart" and "Yakimex." While he's not really considered a provincial writer, Carver, like Annie Proulx or Flannery O'Connor, absolutely recalls the spirit of his place in his work.

Here's a beginning to a Carver story, "Gazebo," told without irony:

That morning she pours Teacher's over my belly and licks it off. That afternoon she tries to jump out the window.

I go, "Holly, this can't continue. This has got to stop."

Somehow, Carver turns this scene into a mournful account of a marriage ending, with a thoughtful side note about the title symbol. He makes us sympathize with the drunken couple; he's kind to his characters, despite their initial flaws. Carver describes the type of people that live somewhere in our town, the people that stay up too late and maybe don't have enough self-control. Most of us are related to these people. Carver was one of these people, and his voice isn't hip or angry or proud. It's honest.