Goodbye Days

The narrative’s protagonist, Carver defines himself as “a seventeen-year-old funeral expert” upon the book’s opening (4). He is the last living member of Sauce Crew, the name he and his three best friends had for their group. A senior at Nashville Arts Academy, he’s a writer, meant to head to Sewanee or Emory for creative writing after graduating. His name reflects his literary aspirations, as his father (a college English professor) named him after Raymond Carver.

Carver’s self-identification as a writer is so strong that he even links his writing (a text) with his friends’ deaths: “Here’s the cruel irony for the writer I am: I wrote them out of existence. Where are you guys? Text me back” (2). The fact that “writer” is such a big part of Carver’s self-identity makes his writer’s block after the accident especially distressing. Only once Carver is able to tell the true story of his friends’ deaths, one that embraces the chaos of the universe and absolves him of responsibility, is he able to drop the guilt and grief that block his creativity.

Much of the story is told through Carver’s internal thoughts—monologues, imaginary conversations with his friends, flashbacks of Sauce Crew, and even dreams.