Word: errand
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...last piece in the collection, "Errand," is not a story. When Marilynne Robinson reviewed Where I'm Calling From in The New York Times Book Review, she confessed that she was perplexed. "Errand" is the story of the death of Chekhov. Robinson supposed that Carver was inviting comparison between himself and Chekhov, but if so, she did not see it, much as she admired them both...
...confusion is understandable. While "Errand" is full of Chekhovian touches--surprises delivered in a complete prose deadpan, methodically thorough detail, small paradoxical moments that reveal character--the touches sound contrived and unnatural in Carver's hands. If "Errand" were akin to Harold Bloom's apophrades, a return from the dead of an old literary influence, the styles of Carver and Chekhov would merge without seams. Instead they...
...clunky style of "Errand" is a throwback to the 19th century, but "Errand" is an experiment, a post-modern experiment, on the border between fiction and non-fiction. Capote's In Cold Blood and, more recently, Don DeLillo's Libra are other examples of the post-modern urge to cross genres and mix fact with fiction. Seen in this light, "Errand" is not a return of older influences, it is a departure from the rigid prohibitions that minimalism can impose...
Shultz took little notice of the Soviet view or that of others who said his Middle East mission was a fool's errand. "You can't be too afraid of failing," said the 67-year-old diplomat, who is probably serving in his last Government post. "What am I saving myself...
...approximately 30 researchers at the laboratory envision a future with robots acting as reliable errand-runners, able to change batteries in an orbiting satellite or drive to school and pick up the children...