I strongly feel that Riverdale does not belong on this list lol. mainly because Riverdale is perfect and has never done anything wrong ever

yes, i support a good editor as absolutely vital in prose/short story writing. but saying that his editor basically wrote these stories really undersells it all, especially the work of an editor. a good writer / editor combo usually lasts for years (if not decades) across works. i’m not going to choose between johnny marr and morrissey here.

as for OP, i love carver, and i think what makes him so effective is that his stories are small modern american parables. at the end of all his stories you feel like you’ve learned and understood something serious about the pain of modern existence.