News & Reviews

WORD: After publishing ruckus, LOA launches ‘Raymond Carver: Collected Stories’

After sidestepping a dispute involving some of the most powerful figures in publishing, The Library of America this month finally launched "Raymond Carver: Collected Stories," a comprehensive collection of work that spans the influential author’s entire career.

Raymond Carver helped transform the American short story in the 1970s and ’80s with his spare, intense prose that some considered controversial amid accusations of heavy editing and rewriting done by his editor Gordon Lish at Alfred A. Knopf -- now the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group -- his publisher before his death in 1988.

LOA’s Collected Stories includes titles "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?", "Stories from Furious Seasons, Fires, and Where I’m Coming From," and "Beginners," as well as other stories, essays and never-seen-before versions of his prose.

Carver’s widow Tess Gallagher originally spearheaded an effort to publish 17 original shorts in his critically-acclaimed "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" -- also included in the LOA release, an effort that reportedly prompted a publishing ruckus involving some of the most powerful figures in publishing back in 2007.

Amanda "Binky" Urban, then the agent for Carver’s literary estate, backed off after Knopf sent a threatening legal letter alleging any publication with another house would be an "illegal, competitive edition." Gallagher later moved on with agent Andrew Wylie, who took on Carver’s literary estate.

Eventually the parties involved ironed out their dispute, LOA obtained Knopf’s approval, and readers now have a definitive collection of Carver’s stories.

Perhaps most significantly, this LOA edition includes the original manuscript of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" so readers can rediscover for themselves the true arc of Carver’s career. "Raymond Carver: Collected Stories," a September 2009 release, is available in stores now.

The Library of America is an award-winning nonprofit publisher dedicated to preserving America’s best writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. For more information check out the LOA website.

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