Bookmark: Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver was an American short story writer and poet, who is considered a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s.He came from the lower-middle class of Yakima in Washington, and was a husband and father before he turned 21.

Considered a chronicler of blue-collar despair, he led a relatively private life, much of it spent trying to raise cash through odd jobs and the writing-conference circuit. He died from the cancerous effects of excessive drinking and smoking.

This week's Bookmark segment with Umapagan Ampikaipakan takes a look at his relatively short and somewhat troubled life, his works, "Cathedral", "Elephant" and "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", and also the book "A Writer's Life" the greatly detailed and illuminating biography of his life by Carol Sklenicka, an essayist and short story writer herself.