Carver (Beginners, 1):
My friend Mel McGinnis, was talking. Mel McGinnis is a cardiologist, and sometimes that gives him the right.
The four of us were sitting around his kitchen table drinking gin. Sunlight filled the kitchen from the big window behind the sink. There were Herb and I and his second wife, Teresa—Terri, we called her—and my wife, Laura. We lived in Albuquerque then. But we were all from somewhere else.
Lish (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, 1):
My friend Herb McGinnis, a cardiologist, was talking. The four of us were sitting around his kitchen table drinking gin. It was Saturday afternoon. Sunlight filled the kitchen from the big window behind the sink. There were Herb and I and his second wife, Teresa—Terri, we called her—and my wife, Laura. We lived in Albuquerque, but we were all from somewhere else.
Discussion (Please respond in the comments section of the Home Page)
What is your initial impression of Gordon Lish’s editorial choices? Do Lish’s changes strike you as harmless/ normal, or excessive/ dominating?
