STORY PREPARATION
Introduction
Raymond Carver (1938-1988) helped to reinvent the American short story by chronicling, in
spare and accessible language, the lives of working men and women—people who lived, as he
had, on the hardscrabble margins of the American dream.
Carver was born to working-class parents: his father was a saw filer in Pacific Northwest lumber
mills, and his mother worked as a waitress and retail clerk. Married at 19, a father of two by 20,
working what he called “crap jobs” and drinking as a full-time pursuit, Carver was intimate with
human struggles against poverty, violence and internal demons.
He also found hope, redemption and gratitude—in his own life and in the small revelations of his
characters. In 1977, after a decade of progressive alcoholism, Carver stopped drinking; at the
same time, he met the poet Tess Gallagher, who became his partner in literature and in life. “I
guess I just wanted to live,” Carver said later of his decision to become sober.
His writing—in several acclaimed collections of short stories, as well as in essays and poetry—
shed light on the strangeness within everyday happenings, celebrated individuality against the
numbing effects of mass culture and found poetry in the most bleak circumstances.
“In the best fiction,” he wrote, “the central character, the hero or heroine, is also the ‘moved’
character, the one to whom something happens in the story that makes a difference.” Like his
literary mentor Anton Chekhov, Carver used a realistic style to depict quiet epiphanies.
In “Fat,” a waitress stuck in a dead-end job with an insolent boyfriend finds the possibility of
change after an encounter with a customer whom she serves one night. This story, with its
typically Carver-esque enigmatic ending, opens easily to discussion of stereotypes, choices and
moments when we sense our lives are about to shift.
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First impressions
After reading “Fat” jot down your own questions, thoughts, confusions and impressions. What
intrigues you about this story? What catches your attention? Make some notes on the story or in
the space below.
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Applying The Method
Poetics
Moments in the story where the use of metaphor, simile, repetition, rhythm or voice may prompt
discussion.
1. “the fat man” (page 64, line 4)
2. “But it is the fingers I remember best…long, thick, creamy fingers.” (page 64, line 8)
3. “And he makes a little puffing sound every so often.” (page 64, line 22)
4. “I hurry away to the kitchen and turn in the order to Rudy, who takes it with a face.” (page
65, line 6)
5. “Believe me, he says, we don’t eat like this all the time, he says.” (page 66, line 16)
6. references to “fat”: “Rita, he was big, I mean big.” (page 64, line 18), “Who’s your fat
friend? He’s really a fatty.” (page 65, line 10), “God, he’s fat!” (page 66, line 23), “How is
old tub-of-guts doing?” (page 67, line 18), “Harriet says you got a fat man from the circus
out there.” (page 67, line 32)
7. “I raise the lid of his sugar bowl and look in…I know now I was after something. But I don’t
know what.” (page 67, line 13)
8. “Rudy, he is fat, I say, but that is not the whole story.” (page 68, line 3)
9. “Me, I eat and I eat and I can’t gain, I say. I’d like to gain, I say.” (page 68, line 16)
10. “I put my hand on my middle and wonder what would happen if I had children and one of
them turned out to look like that, so fat.” (page 68, line 28)
11. “Fat, that’s the only name this one kid had.” (page 69, line 4)
12. “I feel I am terrifically fat, so fat that Rudy is a tiny thing and hardly there at all.” (page 69,
line 16)
13. “She sits there waiting, her dainty fingers poking her hair.” (page 69, line 23)
14. It is August. My life is going to change. I feel it.” (page 69, line 25)
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of poetics, etc. Additional space on page at end
of this section.
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Tensions, contrasts
Meaningful tensions or juxtapositions in the story.
1. “This fat man is the fattest person I have ever seen, though he is neat-appearing and well
dressed enough.” (page 64, line 6)
2. “…I first notice the fingers…long, thick, creamy fingers.” (page 64, line 9) and “her dainty
fingers poking her hair.” (page 69, line 23) Contrast the fat man and Rita.
3. Contrast other customers—“party of four businessmen, very demanding” (page 64, line
12)—with the fat man’s demeanor.
4. The difference between behavior and internal experience: “I like to see a man eat and enjoy
himself, I say. I don’t know, he says. I guess that’s what you’d call it.” (page 66, line 18)
5. Other workers’ comments about the fat man and the narrator’s defense of him: “God, he’s
fat! says Leander. He can’t help it, I say, so shut up.” (page 66, line 23)
6. Images of abundance/comfort and restraint/discomfort: “I drop lots of sour cream onto his
potato.” (page 64, line 7) and “With just a drop of chocolate syrup, if you please.” (page 67,
line 29); “A person has to be comfortable, I say.” (page 66, line 32) and “But I see a little
later that he is still wearing his coat.” (page 67, line 2)
7. Images of fatness/thinness: “Believe it or not, he says, we have not always eaten like this.
Me, I eat and I eat and I can’t gain, I say.” (page 68, line 14) and “When he gets on me, I
suddenly feel I am fat. I feel I am terrifically fat, so fat that Rudy is a tiny thing and hardly
there at all.” (page 69, line 16)
8. Contrast the fat man’s interactions with the narrator and Rudy’s interactions with her.
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of tensions, contrasts, etc. Additional space on
page at end of this section.
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Shadows
Questions, missing pieces, elements that are oblique or not fully explained.
1. Why are the waitress and the fat man the only two characters in the story who don’t have
names?
2. Why is the narrator telling this story to Rita?
3. Why does the fat man speak in the first-person plural: “I think we’re ready to order
now…(page 64, line 19) and “I think we will begin with a Caesar salad” (page 64, line 23)?
4. What does the waitress mean by “Now that’s part of it. I think that is really part of it” (page
65, line 12)?
5. Why doesn’t the waitress ask the fat man more questions: “I don’t say anything more on the
subject, though I am curious” (page 66, line 8)?
6. Why does the waitress begin to defend the fat man: “He can’t help it, I say, so shut up” (page
66, line 24)?
7. Why does the fat man keep his coat on?
8. Why is the waitress so generous with the fat man’s food: “I drop lots of sour cream onto his
potato…I bring him more bread and butter” (page 67, line 7)?
9. What does the waitress mean by “I know now I was after something. But I don’t know what”
(page 62, line 16)?
10. What does the waitress mean by “and a feeling comes over me” (page 68, line 12)?
11. Why does the fat man say, “If we had our choice, no. But there is no choice” (page 68, line
18)?
12. Why does the waitress say she feels depressed and has told Rita “too much” (page 69, line
21)?
13. What do you think the story’s ending suggests? Why August? In what way might the
waitress’s life change?
14. Why is the story written in the present tense (ie. “I am sitting over coffee and cigarettes…”
rather than “I was sitting…”) Why does Carver repeat “he says” and “I say” so often?
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of shadows, etc. Additional space on page at
end of this section
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Issues
Themes, ideas and arguments raised by the text.
1. storytelling: Why does the waitress tell this story to her friend Rita? How does the story
affect Rita? How does telling it affect the waitress? Why do people tell stories about
themselves and their lives?
2. intimacy/disconnection: What are instances of intimacy and disconnection in this story? Do
they happen where you would expect to find them, or are there surprises?
3. stereotyping/prejudices: Look at how each character describes the fat man. What are the
narrator’s first impressions of him; do those impressions change? What does Rudy’s
recollection of “Fat” and “Wobbly” tell you about him?
4. self-consciousness/self-awareness: What is the difference between these two states of mind?
Which characters are self-conscious; how do they demonstrate that? Are any characters selfaware; how do they demonstrate it?
5. male/female relations: How would you describe the relationship between Rudy and the
waitress? Between the fat man and the waitress? Between other male and female characters
in the story?
6. obesity/body size: What causes people to become fat? What is it like to live in this society as
a fat person? What shapes our ideas about acceptable and unacceptable body size?
7. choice/helplessness: The fat man says, “But there is no choice.” (page 68, line 18) Who has
choices in this story? Who does not? Is being fat a choice or a circumstance? What about
being in a relationship with someone like Rudy? What might happen if these characters made
different choices? Is that possible?
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of issues, etc. Additional space on page at end
of this section.
Experience
Points in the story that may resonate with the reader’s own life experience.
1. Have you ever had an experience that you felt compelled to share with a friend? What did
you hope to get from sharing the story? Did you receive the response you expected?
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2. Have you ever characterized someone on first sight as “the fat man,” “the shy girl,” “the dark
one,” etc.? Did your impressions of this person change over time? How might someone
characterize you on first meeting; what would that description fail to take into account?
3. Have you ever worked in a restaurant, bar, hair salon or other similar place? Are there
particular customers who made a big impression on you? Why? Did you ever have an
encounter with a stranger that changed the way you thought about yourself or your life?
4. Have you ever eaten alone in a restaurant? What was the experience like?
5. Have you ever overeaten or do you know someone who does? How did you (or this person)
behave while overeating? How did you feel? What did you tell yourself during, and after, the
experience?
6. Have you ever come to the defense of someone who as being teased or put down by others?
What made you defend this person? How did you feel about doing so?
7. Have you ever felt that you were “after something” or had “a feeling” come over you—that
is, a sensation or experience that couldn’t immediately be put into words? What does that
experience mean to you now?
8. Have you ever felt that “there is no choice” (page 68, line 18) about something you do or a
circumstance in your life? Have there been other times when you were aware that you had
choices? What has helped you to see and understand your choices in life?
9. Have you ever had a relationship with someone like Rudy? How did that relationship affect
you?
10. Have you ever had the feeling that your life was about to change? What where the
circumstances? Did it change?
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of experience, etc. Additional space on page at
end of this section.
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Coordinator Notes
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of poetics, tensions/contrasts, shadows, issues,
experience, possible discussion paths, questions you might consider.
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DISCUSSION PATHS
Introducing the story
before reading the story, you might want to:
1. Share biographical information about Raymond Carver.
2. Ask readers to think about a time when an encounter with a stranger made a big impression
on them; they may share these experiences briefly.
3. Invite brainstorming about the title: What impressions, associations, ideas and images are
evoked by the word “fat”?
4. Consider reading, at the opening or closing of the session, Carver’s poem, “Late Fragment,”
published in his posthumous collection A New Path to the Waterfall:
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
Discussion Questions
Poetics  P Tensions/Contrasts  C Shadows  S Issues  I Experience  E
______________________________________________________________________________
1.
“This fat man is the fattest person I have ever seen, though he is neatappearing and well dressed enough.” (page 64, line 6) What does this line
imply about fat people? What are the waitress’s first impressions of the fat man?
Have you ever characterized someone, on first sight, as “the skinny guy,” “the shy
girl” or “the dark one”? How might someone characterize you on first meeting?
Are such descriptions useful or limiting? Why?
CIE
2.
“Yes, he says. I think we’re ready to order now, he says.” (page 64, line 19)
Why does the fat man use the first-person plural (“we” instead of “I”)? How does
he feel about himself, based on his behavior and his speech? Why does he say,
“…we don’t eat like this all the time” (page 66, line 16)? What is it like to be
fat in our society? Have you ever felt self-conscious about your body size? How
did it affect your behavior?
SIE
3.
“But it is the fingers I remember best…long, thick, creamy fingers.” (page 64,
line 8) Contrast this description with Rita’s “dainty fingers poking her hair”
(page 69, line 23) and the image of Rudy as “a tiny thing and hardly there at
all” (page 69, line 17) What do these images evoke? How are the fat man and
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Rudy different? How would you describe the waitress’s relationship with each of
them? Where are instances of intimacy and disconnection in this story?
PCI
4.
“Rudy, he is fat, I say, but that is not the whole story.” (page 68, line 3) Why
does the waitress begin to defend the fat man? Why is she so generous with his
food? How do her feelings about him change through the story? Have you ever
come to the defense of someone who was being teased or put down by others?
How did you feel about doing so?
CSE
5.
“Me, I eat and I eat and I can’t gain, I say. I’d like to gain, I say.” (page 68,
line 16) What does the waitress mean by this? What would she like to gain?
Contrast this with the fat man’s remark that “Believe it or not…we have not
always eaten like this” (page 68, line 14). What do the waitress and the fat man
have in common? Where do we get ideas about acceptable and unacceptable body
size?
PCI
6.
“I like to see a man eat and enjoy himself, I say. I don’t know, he says. I
guess that’s what you’d call it.” (page 66, line 18) Is there a difference between
what the fat man does and how he feels? How about for the waitress: is there
tension between her behavior and her internal experience? Are these characters
self-conscious or self-aware? What is the difference? Describe a personal moment
of self-consciousness or self-awareness.
CSE
7.
“I raise the lid of his sugar bowl and look in…I know now I was after
something. But I don’t know what.” (page 67, line 13) Also, “a feeling comes
over me.” (page 68, line 12) What does the waitress mean by these remarks?
Have you ever had a feeling or experience that couldn’t be put into words? What
does that experience mean to you now?
SE
8.
“It is August. My life is going to change. I feel it.” (page 69, line 25) What does
the story’s ending evoke for you? What do you think will happen? Why
“August”? Have you ever had the feeling that your life was about to change? Did
it?
PSE
9.
“I am sitting over coffee and cigarettes at my friend Rita’s and I am telling
her about it.” (page 64, line 1) Why does the waitress tell this story to her friend
Rita? How does the story affect Rita? How does it affect the waitress? Have you
ever had an experience you felt compelled to share with a friend? Did you receive
the response you expected? Did telling the story clarify or change its meaning?
SIE
10.
Have you ever worked in a restaurant, bar, hair salon or similar place? Are there
customers who made a big impression on you? Did you ever have an encounter
with a stranger that changed the way you thought about yourself, other people or
life? What are the benefits and limits or such encounters with people you may
never meet again?
11.
IE
Look at the language of the story: Why do you think Carver chose to tell it in
present tense (“I am sitting over coffee and cigarettes…” rather than “I was
sitting…”)? Why does he repeat “he says” and “I say” so often? Why are the
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waitress and the fat man the only ones who don’t have names? Why do you think
he ended the story the way he did? What do you think will happen?
PCSI
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Final Impressions
After the session, take some time to make notes about the discussion: interesting points that
readers raised, questions that arose, disputes, confusions. Jot down your own impressions of the
session: what worked well; what would you do differently the next time?
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SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
By Raymond Carver:
short stories
Cathedral. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1983.
Short Cuts: Selected Stories. New York: Vintage Books, 1993.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. New York: Knopf, 1981
Where I’m Calling From: New and Selected Stories. Boston: Atlantic Monthly
Press, 1988.
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? New York: Vintage Books, 1976.
poetry
All of Us: The Collected Poems. New York: Vintage Books, 2000.
A New Path to the Waterfall. New York: Grove/Atlantic, 1989.
essays and collections
Call If You Need Me: The Uncollected Fiction and Other Prose. New York,
Vintage Books, 2001.
Carver Country: The World of Raymond Carver. New York: Arcade Publishing,
1994.
Fires: Essays, Poems, Stories. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
By other authors:
Follies: New Stories, by Ann Beattie. New York: Scribner Book Co., 2005.
Independence Day, by Richard Ford. New York: Vintage, 1996.
Reasons to Live: Stories, by Amy Hempel. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995.
The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.
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