JON RAYMOND

Jon Raymond is the author of The Half-Life, a novel, and Old Joy, a story that became a feature film. Formerly an editor at Tin House, his writing appears regularly in Artforum, Bookforum, and other publications. Wendy and Lucy, a film co-written by Raymond, was screened at Cannes. His latest book is the short story collection Livability.

Writer Jon Raymond sees his work realized in Oregon films
by Jeff Baker, The Oregonian
Monday January 05, 2009, 10:16 AM

“Raymond's tales remain as quietly engrossing in their natural, printed habitat as they do upon a screen. They expand the scope of characters from cultural outsiders and lanky ne'er-do-wells to include members of the moneyed upper class, grieving spouses and young boys confronted by "shared torpor and sudden enthusiasms."  Comparisons to the self-consciously hardscrabble Northwest of Raymond Carver will certainly be made, but it's the poems of Richard Hugo, born in the Seattle suburb of White Center, to whom these stories feel the most connected. Like Hugo's lovingly practical images of nature and bleak, localized stasis, Raymond's work floats just beside the realm of possibility, often ending as a character is teetering dramatically on the precipice of something. With Raymond, as with Hugo, we glimpse lives in suspension, and the effect, by the book's end, is dizzying.”—Los Angeles Times

“Jon Raymond is a real find—his work evokes that of the late Raymond Carver, the king of what was once called Kmart fiction. His stories are moving, real and discomfiting.”—Chicago Tribune

“The lives of the folks in Jon Raymond’s Livability are clouded by longing and lit with rare flashes of grace.”  —Vanity Fair

“All of these tales by screenwriter and novelist Raymond (The Half-Life) deal with seizing opportunities to reunite with friends, taking a temporary respite from grief, and starting a new life path, among other very human experiences. The author's simple yet elegant writing style, with concise descriptions and well-paced action sequences, is taut and powerful. The characters may seem like ordinary people on the surface, but Raymond explores the depths of their emotions to the core, revealing a deep insight into personal motivation that is impressive in a writer so young. Two of the short stories in this collection were inspiration for the films Old Joy(2006) and Wendy and Lucy, which was released Dec. 10. This collection is highly recommended to all libraries.”—Library Journal

“This enticing collection pulses with the intensity of its diverse characters and the affliction that comes part and parcel with decisions, large or small, that they make at life’s junctures.  Raymond’s nine stories are delicately refined and sublimely electric.”  —Booklist

“Jon Raymond is a master at re-creating those feelings of unease and confusion that arise when relationships are at their most precarious.  His artful rendering of life’s defining moments reveals how we are all engaged in ceaseless self-evaluation.”   —Bookforum

A collection of rich, powerfully human stories from the author of The Half-Life and the movies Old Joy (“one of the finest American films of the year”—New York Times) and Wendy and Lucy.