Myers boards a train in “The Compartment” to visit his estranged son who is a student in France. At the end of the story, they both stare at unexplained puddles of water that accumulate before Sandy’s husband returns to the couch. Upon discovering that the refrigerator is broken, Sandy insists that her husband accompany her to an appliance auction. In “Preservation,” Sandy’s husband loses his job is unable to venture far from the couch and living room. When Chef asks the couple to move out because his daughter needs to live in the house, Wes breaks off the relationship with Edna because he doubts his ability to remain sober once they leave the isolation of the rented house. The second story, “Chef’s House,” concerns Edna, who leaves her new partner to stay with her recovering alcoholic ex-husband Wes in a home owned by Chef, another recovering alcoholic. The couple never wanted children, and Jack feels trapped by his growing disconnection with his wife and a child he doesn’t particularly like. Although the visit is strange and the baby is ugly, it spurs Fran to encourage Jack to impregnate her that night. In the first story, “Feathers,” Jack and Fran, a blue-collar couple who dream of a better life they never expect to achieve visit the home of Jack’s coworker who recently had a baby. Other authors associated with this movement include Charles Bukowski, Cormac McCarthy, and Carson McCullers. Carver is also associated with the “dirty realism” movement, a category which depicts the sordid mundanities of everyday life and unremarkable people. While Carver considered Cathedral a stylistic break from Lish’s influence, the prose in the collection is still spare and economical, as the author employs very little description or figurative language. His early work bears the heavy influence of Esquire editor Gordon Lish, who constantly challenged Carver to use fewer words.

Although Carver did not subscribe to a particular literary movement, scholars generally consider the author a minimalist.

Raymond carver short stories collection