Gordon Lish: ‘Had I not revised Carver, would he be paid the attention given him? Baloney!’

Christian Lorentzen talks to the legendary editor in an extract from a forthcoming issue of the Paris ReviewIt’s the custom for editors to keep a low profile and to underplay any changes they may make to an author’s manuscript. Gordon Lish is a different animal. Not since Maxwell Perkins has an editor been so famous – or notorious – as a sculptor of other people’s prose. As fiction editor of Esquire from 1969 to 1977, then as an editor at Knopf and of the Quarterly until 1995, Lish worked closely with many of the most daring writers of the past 50 years, including Raymond Carver, Don DeLillo, Barry Hannah and Joy Williams. In an interview with the Paris Review in 2004, Hannah said: “Gordon Lish was a genius editor. A deep friend and mentor. He taught me how to write short stories. He would cross out everything so there’d be like three lines left, and he would be right.”His collaborations have not always ended amicably. His editorial relationship with Carver ceased after three books. When Lish donated his papers to the Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington, they indeed showed that he had drastically cut, and often rewritten, some of Carver’s best-loved stories. For the Collected Stories, published in 2009, Carver’s widow, Tess Gallagher, printed some of them in both edited and unedited versions. The critical reaction was divided. In the New York Times book review, Stephen King described the effect on one story as “a total rewrite … a cheat”; in the New York... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Gordon Lish: ‘Had I not revised Carver, would he be paid the attention given him? Baloney!’"

With Print Sales Up, These Were The Bestselling Books in May 2024

Print book sales were up in May, books by Stephen King, Kristin Hannah, Emily Henry, and Dr. Seuss. Check out the top 10 books sold in the adult and children's markets. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-06-20 13:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Oprah’s Book Club and… Dying? How Do Writers Get Famous

Why are some authors and books iconic? Why do other authors and books tank? It’s tempting to say that William Shakespeare is uniquely talented, and so is Stephen King. But, of course, there are plenty of amazing writers out there that you haven’t heard of them. Benjamin Franklin had a sister,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-21 08:59:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this

OpenAI says it can clone a voice from just 15 seconds of audio

OpenAI just announced that it recently conducted a small-scale preview of a new tool called Voice Engine. This is a voice cloning technology that can mimic any speaker by analyzing a 15-second audio sample. The company says it generates “natural-sounding speech” with “emotive and realistic... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-03-29 19:03:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Rizzoli International to Launch U.K. Publishing Arm

The London-based Rizzoli UK will be headed up by Stephen King, who has been appointed managing director. The new business will also develop original titles to be published under the Rizzoli Universe imprint. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-07 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Print Book Sales Improved Last Week, But Still Fell 4%

Unit sales for print books had their best weekly performance since mid-June, in part thanks to Stephen King, but still fell 4% from a year ago. Once again, sales were down in all categories. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Stephen King Has 1 Simple Demand For Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene

The bestselling author urged all Republican lawmakers to stop the distractions and focus on this key issue. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2023-05-04 08:27:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this

An Open Letter to Stephen King: Book Censorship News, January 27, 2023

No, kids CAN'T get the books being banned at libraries and bookstores, Mr. King. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-01-27 11:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

PW 2022 Notable: Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is well on the way to selling more books in 2022 than Stephen King, James Patterson, and John Grisham. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Lit Hub Daily: October 26, 2022

Lobotomies, dolls, and cannibals, oh my! Scary book recommendations from your wimpy friends at Lit Hub. | Lit Hub Halloween Darryl Pinckney on working for the New York Review of Books as a young black writer: “Bob and Barbara are dinosaurs and we’re these mammals running around afraid of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-10-26 10:30:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this

DOJ v PRH: Jonathan Karp and Stephen King Take the Stand

Day two of the DOJ's trial to block PRH from acquiring S&S featured a little star power: bestselling author Stephen King. In terms of the case before the court, however, the highlight of the day was the testimony of S&S CEO Jonathan Karp. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

‘Fantastical claims’ and Stephen King: Penguin Random House and DOJ face off for antitrust battle

In one of the biggest antitrust showdowns of President Biden’s tenure, the Justice Department is pulling out the big guns to stop a mega-publishing merger. The Justice Department’s ambitious bid to stop Penguin Random House from buying rival publisher Simon & Schuster has started taking on... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2022-07-25 16:10:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Stephen King, Andrew Solomon, and a bunch of agents are set to testify in the PRH antitrust trial.

The federal government’s civil suit to block the acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House is chugging along, with the trial set to begin on August 1. Exhibits to the joint pretrial motion, filed July 15, included lists of witnesses for both sides. Witnesses for both sides... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-20 16:13:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Unseen works by ‘queen of gothic fiction’ Shirley Jackson published

Two previously unseen short stories by Jackson, rated by Stephen King as one of the great horror fiction writers, are to appear in US magazine the StrandTwo previously unpublished short stories by Shirley Jackson, the queen of gothic fiction, have been released.Charlie Roberts and Only Stand and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-06-09 14:05:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Stephen King's ‘Scariest Work Yet’ Might Be This Ridiculous Microwave Recipe

The internet is in “misery” after the horror legend shared the recipe on Twitter. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2022-04-22 03:28:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Stephen King, Janelle Monáe and more: Let’s talk about speculative fiction to read this year

2022 is turning out to be a great year if you love science fiction, fantasy and horror books Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-15 11:00:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Jason Epstein, publishing executive who shaped literary tastes, dies at 93

He founded Anchor Books, publishing high-quality paperbacks in the 1950s, then led Random House and helped launch the New York Review of Books. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-02-05 02:25:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Hodder signs King's 'magnificent' Fairy Tale for September release

Stephen King has written “a magnificent and terrifying tale” about a teenage boy with keys to a parallel world. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-25 09:54:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Trevlyn D’Cruz obituary

My father, Trevlyn D’Cruz, who has died aged 83, was an accountant who became managing director of the publishing company New English Library (NEL) in 1974. His years there read like a primer of 70s culture: he distributed Bob Guccione’s Playboy magazine rival, Penthouse, was involved in the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-24 16:49:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this