A fine story, edited.

[Pure]

New Yorker published the near final, as well as the final draft of a famous
Raymond Carver story, "What we talk about when we talk about love."

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/12/24/071224on_onlineonly_carver


It's fascinating to see what was pruned. (I'm assuming this is a key issue for all of us who write or wish to.). Comments.?

pure,
mod.

 

[BonnevilleFlats]

I am a lifelong Carver fan and while I believe Gordon Lish took too much of an ax to the What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, I will defend Lish's editing. He had a way at getting immediately what was at stake in a story. You also cannot deny that What We Talk About was the collection that turned everything around for Carver. He became internationally recognized after that collection and ushered in the so-called short story renaissance of the 1980's as well as the so-called school of American dirty realism. Also, without Gordon Lish there would have never been a Will You Please Be Quiet Please. Lish was THE first person to recognize Carver's importance.

The drafts, however, show that there was more than one way to go with a given Carver story. "A Small Good Thing" is a perfect example of this and I much prefer the longer version that appears in Where I'm Calling From.

Gordon Lish was one of the great American editors. No one can deny that. But he was also a frustrated writer and, after a few drinks, prone to take all of the credit for Carver's work. That was one of the reasons why Carver switched to Gary Fiskejon. Fiskejon is also one of the great editorss of American fiction. He was less prone to letting his ego get in the way.

Editing is an art just and just as valid as writing fiction. Very few are capable of doing both. The real tragedy is when an author becomes such a big name that editors are intimidated and do little more than correct some grammar and syntax. That is what happened to Norman Mailer later in his career.