Biography on david guterson

David Guterson acknowledges that a few of his early short stories owe a debt to the basic, naturalistic style of Raymond Carver; however, he continues, "You mature, your sensibilities become refined, you find your own voice." Nevertheless, Guterson established several characteristic techniques in his early pieces which carry over into his novels, suggested by the collection's metaphoric title, The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind.

The "country" is the Pacific Northwest, the setting for most of his stories and his subsequent novels, Snow Falling on Cedars and East of the Mountains, while "ahead" and "behind" refer to the very lives of his protagonists, who recall salient events in their past through Guterson's use of flashback.

In the stark, tough short stories about fathers and sons, brothers and buddies, a nostalgic adult recalls a boyhood adventure, usually involving hunting or fishing or some other self-test against nature, but leading to pe