Front Cover of What we talk about when we talk about love
‘Gazebo’ by Raymond Carver
Artists
‘Gazebo’ is a story about a couple and their troubled marriage by American short-story writer and poet Raymond Carver. It was published as part of Carver’s second collection of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981).
The story is narrated by Duane, a once-hardworking man desperate to save his relationship with his wife, Holly. They manage a motel, which is set vaguely somewhere in the American Midwest. The problems in their relationship have caused the running of the motel to deteriorate.
Carver switches between unveiling the couple’s past and depicting life in the present moment, revealing how they have been worn down by the complexities of married life. Carver also hints at their alcohol dependency.
The story carries the same air of helplessness that runs through the short-story collection as a whole. As Carver’s second, more successful, collection What We Talk About came to cement his place in the literary landscape of the American short story.
The story is narrated by Duane, a once-hardworking man desperate to save his relationship with his wife, Holly. They manage a motel, which is set vaguely somewhere in the American Midwest. The problems in their relationship have caused the running of the motel to deteriorate.
Carver switches between unveiling the couple’s past and depicting life in the present moment, revealing how they have been worn down by the complexities of married life. Carver also hints at their alcohol dependency.
The story carries the same air of helplessness that runs through the short-story collection as a whole. As Carver’s second, more successful, collection What We Talk About came to cement his place in the literary landscape of the American short story.