<i>Fires</i> is the best introduction to the full range and humanity of Carver''s writing. It contains four essays, including a moving memoir od his father''s working life in the saw-mills of the Pacific Northwest, a tribute to his mentor John Gardner, and the title essay about the influences on his writing life; fifty poems, many of them not collected elsewhere; and seven stories, including three from the early collection <i>Furious Seasons</i>.