Title: Fragmentary, trivial...even a little dull
Review: This was pretty much a disappointment. Carver was The Man in the 1980s, widely celebrated for his realistic, gritty portrayals of everyday life among average white folks, and I liked his stuff when I first read it back then too. But this time, I was no longer enchanted. His stories often seem dull, flat, too focused on minor details. And the picture of life among hard-drinking, clock-punching regular people that emerges hardly seems like the whole picture. A few of the stories are very good, like "Vitamins" for example. And there is the weird story about the guys who go on fishing trip and find a girl's body, then just ignore it for a couple of days while they continue to fish and fool around. This seems to touch on something essential between men and women. But other stories seem trivial and fragmentary. Maybe I am being a little too harsh on Carver - he certainly has many fans, and I used to like his writing - but this is my honest reaction to it today.
Is this product review negative?