Eaton Hamilton

Here, from the New Yorker, is Ray Carver’s original version of “Beginners,” the story that became, under Gordon Lish’s hand, the brilliant “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”  This shows all the editorial interjections and deletions, and I would say represents pretty typical story editing, myself, but I know others, including Carver and his partner Tess Gallagher, considered it drastic.  (Long) after Ray’s death, Tess published the book “Beginners” (Vintage 2010) that restored not only this story but 16 others to their original condition.  Good on her; I’m very glad she did, and readers can decide for themselves.

What We Talk About

Oh, here’s a squib about a recent Newsweek interview with Gordon Lish:

Gordon Lish