I actually started this a bit before I read The Old Man and the Sea and Carver and Hemingway are definitely playing the same game even if not the same position. I was turned on to Carver by Murakami who is a big fan (and has translated Carver’s entire opus into Japanese). He also reminds me of Bukowski, though a little less rough. Style aside, he wades right through the bullshit of working class American life and shows us the beauty and humanity that are still hiding down in there. Really good stuff.