Raymond Carver
The land of missed opportunity: The Left and the Lucky, by Willy Vlautin, reviewed
A bullied eight-year-old forms a bond with his caring, middle-aged neighbour in a heartbreaking novel of modern America’s underclass
The elegiac and the exuberant
Discussions about the short story too often fall into a false dichotomy that can be characterised, in essence, by a…
In the name of the father
‘People talk about their childhood and it’s so mundane. I don’t remember much about it, if I’m honest. I can’t…
The muse in the bottle
The boozer’s life is one of low self-esteem and squalid self-denial. It was memorably evoked by Charles Jackson in his…
