I'm not sure I'm going to finish this book because it is so B-O-R-I-N-G. Not the information per se but the way it is written. Like a 1950s cookbook. Raymond Carver was a great writer and alcoholic and as he was from Washington I thought I'd check out his wife's version of reality. They met when she was 15 in Yakima and married when she was 17. Not trailer trash-she seemed to be a young girl who valued education and all that. Went to a private girl's school in Walla Walla. I'm up to the point where they married and she confirmed she is pregnant and I feel asleep from the boredom. I may plow a little more. I'm interested because I remember reading about Carver when I was into John Gardner- his mentor. Carver was one of those genius/drunks who rued the day he got stuck with a wife and kids that sucked his creative juices dry. Then I got into John Cheever and there is Raymond Carver drinking his brains out with another alcoholic. Anyway I got the male perspective but I thought her tale might be worth a few minutes. I think what I will decide is Maryann Carver was a nice lady but Tess Gallagher--Carver's second poet wife- was an interesting lady. I understand choosing interesting over nice. We'll see. The title of the book is WHAT IT USED TO BE LIKE by Maryann Carver. That's her at 15 in the pix. I'll let you know if there is any improvement.