Ethan -- Along the same lines, see if you can find D.T. Max's piece (from years ago) about Gordon Lish's editing of Raymond Carver at Esquire. Carver was one of my favorites, and I was horrified to find that some of my favorite lines were completely written by Lish. Not RE-written, but written, from whole cloth. Always the perfect line in the perfect place, but I was crestfallen. Then check the interview with fiction writer Joy Williams in the current online edition of Esquire. She recalls an edit by Lish of one of her stories for Esquire that was almost as radical -- it added nothing, but made several cuts. She was at first shocked, but ultimately quite happy with them.
Ethan -- Along the same lines, see if you can find D.T. Max's piece (from years ago) about Gordon Lish's editing of Raymond Carver at Esquire. Carver was one of my favorites, and I was horrified to find that some of my favorite lines were completely written by Lish. Not RE-written, but written, from whole cloth. Always the perfect line in the perfect place, but I was crestfallen. Then check the interview with fiction writer Joy Williams in the current online edition of Esquire. She recalls an edit by Lish of one of her stories for Esquire that was almost as radical -- it added nothing, but made several cuts. She was at first shocked, but ultimately quite happy with them.
nice. thanks Jon!