What is a biography of Raymond Carver?

You will find that the study guide under "Raymond Carver" contains an abundance of information about this popular and important writer of prose and poetry. Carver had a short life because he died of lung cancer when he was only fifty years old. Many people consider him the best American writer in the second half of the twentieth century. His literary career is amazing, because he started off with a limited academic education and...

You will find that the study guide under "Raymond Carver" contains an abundance of information about this popular and important writer of prose and poetry. Carver had a short life because he died of lung cancer when he was only fifty years old. Many people consider him the best American writer in the second half of the twentieth century. His literary career is amazing, because he started off with a limited academic education and little knowledge about writing either fiction or poetry. According to one of the biographies to be found in the study guide for "Raymond Carver,"

He also once declared that the most important, although in many ways the most negative, influence on his early hopes to become a writer, was the fact that he married and became a father before he was twenty. The pressures of supporting his young family made it almost impossible to find time to write.

Carver's own works are heavily autobiographical. He was amazingly honest about his life experiences, including his faults, which included heavy alcoholism. One of his best stories, "Where I'm Calling From," is about his stay in a "drying-out facility" where he was trying desperately to break his alcohol addiction. His stories and poems often deal with his unhappy first marriage and his struggles to earn a living. Ironically, it would appear that his success as a creative writer was largely due to his candor about his faults and follies. 

Be sure to refer to the reference link below for full details about Carver's biography. You can also find abundant information about Carver's life in his stories and poems.