Raymond Carver died 13 years ago this coming August. Few writers continue to be so mourned, so read, so re-read and so deservedly admired. His stories are true to his hero Chekhov's dictum: "Life, only life". The pre-publication of this volume of uncollected prose and fiction last year generated much excitement, particularly as included among the material are five previously unpublished stories. Well, as Carver and any number of his characters might say, hey, hold on there a minute. The best of the quintet, the title story, had already appeared in Granta 68; and it, along with the other four, were stories he had chosen not to publish. As for the uncollected prose, well, it had all previously appeared in No Heroics, Please (1991). I've no problem re-reading Carver, I often do. Fellow devotees will no doubt have also already read the material gathered here. Still as his publishers are aware, the master continues to sell.
