Carving Out the Editors

The carved-up Carver saga, which first came to light almost a decade ago when a New York Times reporter checked out Lish's boast that he had played a major part in forming the voice that influenced a generation of fiction writers, is only one of a string of cases in which the texts of well-known books have been "restored". Some readers regard the process as unnecessary interference with a writer's words by someone who, in many instances, the writer never knew, far less authorised. Others see it as a legitimate step in directing the reader back to the author's primary intentions. "The publication of 'original', 'lost' and 'restored' versions of works by noted writers is a well-established practice among modern publishing firms" - so says Stull on the website that he and his wife, Maureen P Carroll, have set up to promote the Beginners project.