What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

“In Carver’s stories, the characters have no name. We’re in the suburbs, but you don’t know which city. Carver’s claim for something being real is not an ontological claim. He’s saying, “This is how a guy who drank two bottles of whiskey would talk to his overachieving brother.” That’s what’s important. Not that one man’s name is Stanley, and the other guy is called Jake. Carver is always saying, “I’m taking a layer off, so we’ll be closer to the flesh, we’ll be closer to the nerves. We’re going to leave formal structure behind and deal with the real stuff.” “ Read more...

The Best 20th-Century Short Stories

Etgar Keret, Short Story Writer