Chef's House

Last updated
"Chef's House"
Short story by Raymond Carver
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Publication
Published in The New Yorker
Publication dateNovember 30, 1981

"Chef's House" is a short story written by Raymond Carver.

Contents

Plot

Wes, a middle-aged man, goes to live by the ocean as he tries to recover from his alcoholism. He rents a house from another recovered alcoholic, Chef, and calls his wife, Edna, who he has not been with in over two years, to come and live with him. She does and they have a happy summer together until Chef tells him they have to leave by the end of the month so that he can give the house to his daughter, Linda. Wes, who has attached the success of his recovery to the house, takes the news badly and must decide whether to continue his success or to succumb to drinking again.

Background

"Chef's House" was originally published by The New Yorker magazine [1] in their November 30, 1981 issue, and was the first of Carver's stories to be published in the magazine. Later, it was published in the short story collections Cathedral in 1983 and Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories in 1988.

Characters

Themes

There are multiple themes in "Chef's House," all of which are closely interrelated.

Alcohol

Alcohol plays a major role in the short story, despite the fact that the word itself never appears. "Alcoholic," "drink," "drinking," "drunk," and "sober" all show up at some point, but never "alcohol." Wes is a recovering alcoholic, attending "Don't Drink meetings" with Chef. It is implied that his marriage with Edna originally failed because of his drinking, and his children have become estranged from him for the same reason. While Wes originally is very successful in stopping to drink, the end of the story sees him sinking back towards the decision to drink again because of shattered hopes and a fragile sense of identity.

Identity

Almost even more pervasive than alcohol in the story is the theme of identity. Wes has never been able to create an individual identity apart from things in his life (possibly because he was married and had two children by the age of 19). Originally, he finds his identity in alcohol, but is able to replace that identity with one wrapped up in Chef's house. Chef's house comes to symbolize his recovery, safety, and a better life, however, no matter what he does, Wes cannot escape the fact that ultimately the house belongs to Chef as well as everything inside it. Thus, it can never be his own identity. That realization devastates Wes, and causes him to turn back to his original identity, involving alcohol.

Starting over

In the story, starting over is linked with the idea of identity in the sense of someone trying to create another life and a new vision for himself/herself. By the end of the story, however, Wes has lost all faith in the possibility of anyone genuinely starting afresh since, as he puts it, "If I was somebody else, I wouldn't be me. But I'm who I am." To go through the "what if" situations and to pretend to start over is to try to become someone else and have someone else's life. Wes sees this as unrealistic and thus, makes the decision to give into the "self" he was originally, that of an alcoholic.

Storytelling

Storytelling has always been an important part of Raymond Carver's stories. "Chef's House" is unique, however, in that, unlike most of Carver's stories, the dialogue between characters is not within quotation marks. Thus, the whole story seems to be more like Edna's recounting of all the events to a friend after the fact, rather than the action happening in real-time. Also unique, is the fact that it is Edna recounting the story, rather than Wes. Most of Carver's works come from the male perspective and more often from the alcoholic, rather than the alcoholic's wife. These changes give a special twist to "Chef's House" and reinforce the questions about identity from throughout the story.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcoholics Anonymous</span> Sobriety-focused mutual help fellowship

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led mutual-aid fellowship dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions stress anonymity and the lack of a governing hierarchy, and establish AA as free to all, non-promotional, non-professional, unaffiliated, non-denominational, and apolitical. In 2021, AA reported a presence in approximately 180 countries with nearly two million members—73% in the United States and Canada.

Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded by Bill Wilson and Bob Smith, aided its membership to overcome alcoholism. Since that time dozens of other organizations have been derived from AA's approach to address problems as varied as drug addiction, compulsive gambling, sex, and overeating. All twelve-step programs utilize a version of AA's suggested twelve steps first published in the 1939 book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Carver</span> American story writer and poet (1938–1988)

Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, in 1976. His breakout collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981), received immediate acclaim and established Carver as an important figure in the literary world. It was followed by Cathedral (1983), which Carver considered his watershed and is widely regarded as his masterpiece. The definitive collection of his stories, Where I'm Calling From, was published shortly before his death in 1988. In their 1989 nomination of Carver for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the jury concluded, "The revival in recent years of the short story is attributable in great measure to Carver's mastery of the form."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Smith (doctor)</span> 19/20th-century American physician and cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous

Robert Holbrook Smith, also known as Dr. Bob, was an American physician and surgeon who cofounded Alcoholics Anonymous with Bill Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill W.</span> Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (1895–1971)

William Griffith Wilson, also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with Bob Smith.

<i>A Delicate Balance</i> (play) 1966 play written by American Edward Albee

A Delicate Balance is a three-act play by Edward Albee, written in 1965 and 1966. Premiered in 1966, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1967, the first of three he received for his work.

"Where I'm Calling From" is a short story by American author Raymond Carver. The story focuses on the effects of alcohol. Throughout this story Carver experiments with the use of quotation and meditates on the healing factors of storytelling. "Where I'm Calling From" was originally published by The New Yorker magazine in their March 15, 1982 issue. It was later collected in Cathedral (1983). The story also lends its title to a collection of thirty-seven short stories compiled by Carver, Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories (1988).

<i>Hangover Square</i> 1941 novel by Patrick Hamilton

Hangover Square is a 1941 novel by English playwright and novelist Patrick Hamilton. It follows the alcoholic George Harvey Bone and his tortured love for Netta Longdon in the months leading up to the Second World War. Subtitled A tale of Darkest Earl's Court, it is set in that area of London in 1939.

<i>The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs</i> 2006 novel by Irvine Welsh

The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs is the sixth novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol in the Bible</span>

Alcoholic beverages appear in the Hebrew Bible, after Noah planted a vineyard and became inebriated. In the New Testament, Jesus miraculously made copious amounts of wine at the wedding at Cana. Wine is the most common alcoholic beverage mentioned in biblical literature, where it is a source of symbolism, and was an important part of daily life in biblical times. Additionally, the inhabitants of ancient Israel drank beer and wines made from fruits other than grapes, and references to these appear in scripture. However, the alcohol content of ancient alcoholic beverages was significantly lower than modern alcoholic beverages. The low alcohol content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world. Rabbinic teachers wrote acceptance criteria on consumability of ancient alcoholic beverages after significant dilution with water, and prohibited undiluted wine.

"Cathedral" is a short story written by American writer and poet Raymond Carver. It was the first story written after finishing What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. "Cathedral" was first published in the September 1981 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. It was later collected in a short story collection of the same name in 1983.

<i>What We Talk About When We Talk About Love</i> 1981 short story collection by Raymond Carver

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a 1981 collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver, as well as the title of one of the stories in the collection. Considered by many one of American literature's most ambitious short-story collections, it was this collection that turned Raymond Carver into a household name in the publishing industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Alcoholics Anonymous</span>

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global fellowship founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Robert Smith, and has since grown to be worldwide.

<i>Cathedral</i> (short story collection) 1983 short story collection by Raymond Carver

Cathedral is the third major-press collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver, published in 1983. It received critical acclaim and was a finalist for the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

"Vitamins" is a short story by American author Raymond Carver. It was originally published in the Spring 1981 edition of Granta magazine and later in 1983, in the short story collection Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demon in a Bottle</span> Story arc from the comic book series The Invincible Iron Man (vol. 1)

"Demon in a Bottle" is a nine-issue story arc from the comic book series The Invincible Iron Man, published in issues 120 through 128 in 1979 by Marvel Comics. It was written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton and illustrated by John Romita, Jr., Bob Layton, and Carmine Infantino. "Demon in a Bottle" is concerned with Tony Stark's alcoholism.

"Popular Mechanics" is a short story by American writer Raymond Carver. It was originally titled "Mine" and first appeared in Carver's 1977 collection Furious Seasons and Other Stories. It was then republished as "Little Things" in Fiction, as "Mine" again in Playgirl, as "Popular Mechanics" in Carver's 1981 collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and again as "Little Things" in Carver's 1988 collection Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories. There are minor revisions between the version of "Mine" in Furious Seasons and the version published as "Popular Mechanics".

Richard Rogers Peabody was an American psychotherapist who specialized in alcoholism.

<i>Ann Carvers Profession</i> 1933 film

Ann Carver's Profession is an American pre-Code 1933 film directed by Edward Buzzell. It focuses on the relationship of a female lawyer and her husband, and on the strain that her financial success places on their marriage. The film stars actress Fay Wray and this film was made during the year she cemented her fame in King Kong. Although the writing credits differ, the film bears a striking resemblance in plot to Columbia's 1938 production The Lady Objects starring Lanny Ross and Gloria Stuart.

Wasted: A Childhood Stolen, An Innocence Betrayed, A Life Redeemed is a 2008 memoir by British author Mark Johnson. As a child, he was severely mentally and physically abused by his father. When Mark escaped from where he lived, he turned to drugs and crime. His autobiography provides an account of his journey from self-destruction to self-fulfillment.

References

  1. "Chef's House" . The New Yorker .

Additional resources