A Small, Good Thing | Arthur M. Saltzman
In the following essay excerpt, Saltzman explores the "reformulation" and evolution of Carver's earlier story, "The Bath," as "A Small, Good Thing" in the Cathedral collection.
Arthur M. Saltzman
In the following essay excerpt, Saltzman explores the "reformulation" and evolution of Carver's earlier story, "The Bath," as "A Small, Good Thing" in the Cathedral collection.
The stories discussed above follow the general tone established in Carver's three previous collections. The absence of recourse and the unnourished hopes shrunken to a grudge; the misfired social synapses and the implied ellipses like breadcrumb trails leading from breakdown to breakdown; the "preseismic" endings that "are inflected rather than inflicted upon us";...
[The entire page is 1150 words long]
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