Carver’s prose is almost more akin to a painting than most stories. Reading this collection felt like peeking through a series of windows I wasn't meant to peek through, an act of eavesdropping on an intimate moment between strangers. He captures snippets of humanity in a way that makes his characters so familiar, despite often knowing nothing about them outside what is happening in that moment. Each story is an illustration of a relationship between people, the way a great painting can be. It’s how I imagine being on the New Jersey Turnpike would be if I could hear the conversations inside the other cars.
