Anton Talarico | Definitive Analysis | Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" (Part 1)

In this episode of Definitive Analysis - split into two parts - we spend an evening with a narrator and his wife as they welcome an old friend from her life into their home for dinner and conversation after not seeing each other for many years. Time has passed, but that doesn't stop the narrator from reminding us of the depth of vulnerability that simmers beneath the niceties of the night, a feast of a dinner, catching up with stories and coincidences, laughter, and a narrator slightly on edge, apprehensive - seemingly alone - and feeling inadequate amidst the pressures of standing out and feeling good about his life. What comes to pass is magical, an auspice we don't expect that draws in all suspicion and leaves it bare, one hand over the other as the pencil looms over the the paper. We are really doing this thing. We are really "cooking with gas," and the interest of the wife as she awakes is the interest the rouses in all of us as we come out of deep sleep only to realize our greatest desire: some support, some guidance to keep up from going astray. I hope you enjoy this installment. Please be sure to check out Part 2 (linked at end of Part 1). Peace! Table of Contents: