How is the life of the author reflected in the short story?

While assuming certain traits of a story are autobiographical can be a slippery exercise in literature, it is still helpful to take a look at an author's life to get insights into the environment from which the story came. Raymond Carver was one of the great short story writers of the late 20th century. He was also famous for being a horrible alcoholic. This shows clearly in many of Carver's stories in this collection. In...

While assuming certain traits of a story are autobiographical can be a slippery exercise in literature, it is still helpful to take a look at an author's life to get insights into the environment from which the story came. Raymond Carver was one of the great short story writers of the late 20th century. He was also famous for being a horrible alcoholic. This shows clearly in many of Carver's stories in this collection. In this particular story, the couples share more and become more vulnerable as they consume more drinks. The entire night is highlighted by drinking. While these couples show no signs of alcohol abuse, the presence of alcohol and its close relationship to an internal emotional life is still an important part of the story.

Raymond Carver also divorced and remarried. Because of his drinking and other issues, he had a tragic and drawn out end to his first marriage. The story's exploration of lost loves and the mystery of how love dies is likely informed by Carver's experiences in his first marriage. Like the characters, he loved his first wife dearly, but these feelings transformed as life moved on. Also, like the characters in the story, Carver remarried later in life.

As a happily married man, Carver likely could have recalled experiencing similar romantic feelings with his first wife. The struggle to reconcile the strength of romantic feelings with the reality of past experiences is a key theme of the story, and it was clearly also a struggle that was present in Carver's own life.