Put myself in my shoes

"Put Yourself in My Shoes" "Put Yourself in My Shoes" is one of the longest and most complex stories in the collection, and one of its finest. In addition, it brings together a number of the themes and images that have recurred throughout the book. For example, it depicts the kind of interaction between two couples that we have seen in "Neighbors" and "What's in Alaska?"; in this case, the Myerses go to visit the Morgans, whose house they had lived in for a year while Professor Morgan and his wife were in Germany, but whom they have not seen since. Furthermore, the issue of empathy that surfaced in "Fat," "Neighbors," and "The Idea," the ability to visualize oneself in another's perspective, is so central here that in becomes the title of the story. What is different about this story, however, is its self-consciousness, its concentration on the role of the writer. In many ways, "Put Yourself in My Shoes" can be seen as Carver's comment on his own career, on storytelling itself.

Myers is a writer, although he hasn't sold anything yet and is currently not writing. He has quit his job to pursue his muse, but with little success. As the story opens he is depressed, " between stories and [feeling] despicable", when his wife calls to invite him to the office Christmas party. But he doesn't want to go, mainly because the textbook publishing company where she works is also his former place of employment. Like Marston in "What Do You Do in San Francisco?" Myers is feeling the guilt of the unemployed, which is intensified by the fact that he moves in a much more upscale setting that is typical of Carver's protagonists. Myers is also reluctant to pay a holiday call on the Morgan, although his wife, Paula, finally convinces him to go. The meeting does turn out to be quite an uncomfortable occasion, however. As they approach the house, Myers narrowly avoids being attacked by the Morgans' dog. Shortly thereafter, following a seemingly inoffensive discussion of writing, the