With this, his first collection of stories, Raymond Carver breathed new life into the American short story. Carver shows us the humor and tragedy that dwell in the hearts of ordinary people; his stories are the classics of our time. "[Carver's stories] can ... be counted among the masterpieces of American Literature." --T he New York Times Book Review _ "One of the great short story writers of our time--of any time." -- _The Philadelhpia Inquirer _ "The whole collection is a knock out. Few wriers can match Raymond Carver's entiwining style and language." -- _The Dallas Morning News