I recently read Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life by Carol Sklenicka.
Actually, it was about six weeks ago but I have hesitated to write
about it. I am a long time Carver fan and I immensely enjoyed the
first 4/5s of this book, but I can honestly say, I wish I hadn’t read it.
I was shocked at how he treated his wife, MaryAnn Burk, and his
children in his will, leaving everything but a few thousand dollars,
including the rights to everything he wrote during the 20+ years he
lived and was supported by Maryann, to his new wife Tess
Gallagher, who later tried to cheat his children out of money coming
to them from a possible movie project.
The biography is very well written and nothing can change the
writing skills of Raymond Carver, but my opinion of him has changed
since finishing the book and I wish I hadn’t read it.
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