New York: McGraw-Hill, (1976).
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Softcover. Uncorrected proof. Golden yellow wrappers with publisher's label affixed as issued. Housed in a custom chemise and slipcase. Publisher's promotional release in a pocket in the case. Modest age-toning on the wrappers, near fine. Inscribed by Carver to John Barth: "For Jack Barth with good wishes & dazzling admiration. Ray Carver. Baltimore. Nov. 17, 1982." Laid into the proof is a letter from Carver's editor Gordon Lish to Barth prior to publication, stressing the deeply flawed text of the proof: "VERY rough first proofs, chuggyjam with errors of transcription." He mightily promotes the book and solicits a blurb: "So if you feel yourself at all inclined to say something, for God's sake do it... ." Barth would ultimately describe Carver's style as "Post-Alcoholic Blue-Collar Minimalist Hyperrealism," and who could argue with that?
The author's first major collection of stories, and his first book issued by a regular commercial publisher. An incomparable association of possibly the most important and influential American short story collection of the 1970s – Carver's spare prose and realistic settings reinvigorated American fiction.
Item #397483
Raymond Carver
birth name: Raymond Carver
born: 5/25/1938
died: 8/2/1988