“Menudo” was included in Raymond Carver's compilation book, Where I'm Calling From, published in 1988 (Carver). Raymond Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon in 1938. He then lived in Yakima, Washington, where he had two children, Christina and Vance. After moving to Northern California and graduating from Humboldt State College in 1963, Carver began writing and publishing numerous stories, arguably the most famous being "Furious Seasons," which was included in the 1964 edition by Best American Short Story (Gies). Raymond Carver would live and continue to write until 1988, when he died of lung cancer, a life full of alcohol and tobacco had finally caught up with him (Gies). “Menudo” follows the story of Hughes, a man who constantly compares towards others, as he gets out of bed during a bout of insomnia (Nesset). Hughes sits up thinking about his mistress, Amanda, with whom he has just been caught having an affair (Carver 456). Amanda's husband Oliver gave Amanda an ultimatum, he left for a week and he said she better not be there when he returned (Carver 456). He prepares a glass of warm milk to try to fall asleep, commenting that he used to drink whiskey when he suffered from insomnia (Carver 457). Hughes begins to remember things from his past at this point, including when his first wife, Molly, started talking about destiny, how everything was predetermined and how his father died, and he didn't showed no emotion, remained blank and did not sleep throughout the night. the whole grieving process. He later recalls how his current wife, Vicky, revealed that she had had an affair, and how he slept his way through it, and dealt with it the same way he had dealt with her death. his father (Carver 458). Hughes warms his milk...... middle of paper ...... encement of rethinking his life after having understood the meaning of menudo, and his feeling of helplessness overcome, Hughes will rake his life by talking about things with Amanda and rake her life into reality, instead of just in her head. Works CitedCarver, Raymond. Where I'm calling from. Toronto: Random House, 1989. 471-545. Print. Campbell, Ewing. Raymond Carver A study of short fiction. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992. 74-76. Print. Gies, Martha. “Raymond Carver (1938-1988).” Encyclopedia of Oregon - Oregon History and Culture. Internet. April 18, 2011. Glazer, S. (January 6, 1995). Treating addiction. CQ Researcher, 5, 1-24. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/Nesset, Kirk. The Stories of Raymond Carver. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995. 79-83. Print.