Gordon Lish

Gordon Lish
Born	Gordon Lish (1934-02-11)February 11, 1934 Hewlett, New York,U.S.
Pen name	Captain Fiction
Occupation	Short story writer novelist essayist journalist professor
Alma mater	University of Arizona
Genre	Fiction

Gordon Lish(born February 11, 1934)is an American writer.As a literary editor, he championed many American authors, particularlyRaymond Carver,Barry Hannah,Amy Hempel,Rick Bass,Tom Spanbauer,andRichard Ford.He is the father of the novelistAtticus Lish.

Early life and family

Lish was raised inHewlett, New York,onLong Island;his father was the founder and primary partner in Lish Brothers, amillineryfirm. During his formative years, he suffered from extremepsoriasisand was often ostracized by his peers. He attendedPhillips Academybut left without graduating following an altercation with anantisemiticclassmate in 1952. While briefly institutionalized inWestchester County, New York,following an adverse reaction to the hormoneACTH(used in psoriasis treatment), he developed a friendship with noted poetHayden Carruth.Following his release, he took a job as a radio broadcaster for WEIL inNew Haven, Connecticut,under the pseudonym ofGordo Lockwoodand continued to correspond with Carruth, who introduced Lish to thePartisan Review.He relocated toTucson, Arizona,due to the ameliorative effects of the region's climate on his psoriasis. In November 1956, Lish married Loretta Frances Fokes; they would go on to have three children (Jennifer, Becca and Ethan).

After Frances advised him to attend college, Lish matriculated at the nearbyUniversity of Arizona.He majored in English and German and clashed with creative writing instructor Edward Loomis, an adherent of theNew Criticismwho routinely disparaged Lish's more idiosyncratic influences, includingRalph Waldo Emerson,Dylan ThomasandJack Kerouac.Nevertheless, Lish completed acum laudedegree in two years, graduating in 1959.

Following Lish's graduation, the family moved toSan Francisco.During this period, Lish experienced the last vestiges of theSan Francisco Renaissanceand completed a teaching credential atSan Francisco State Universityin 1960.Following another move toBurlingame, California,he took a position as an English teacher at Mills High School inMillbrae, California,where he joined a new Pacific Coast avant-garde literary journal,Chrysalis Review,edited by the San Francisco writer, John Herrmann. When Herrmann left the magazine, Lish took it over, and eventually it evolved intoGenesis West.

Editing

Genesis West

Genesis Westwas published in seven volumes by The Chrysalis West Foundation between 1961 and 1965. While working onGenesis West,their house and magazine became a focus point, and celebrated such authors asNeal Cassady,Ken Kesey,Jack Kerouac,Allen Ginsberg,Jack Gilbert,andHerbert Gold.Although Lish is not ranked among theMerry Pranksters,he often hosted Kesey and Cassady in his home.Neal Cassadymakes note of his time spent at the Lish home on page 151 of his only self-authored book,The First Third.Carolyn Cassadymakes note of the Lish home inOff the Road.

The outré nature ofGenesis Westincensed school board officials, and Lish was denied tenure in 1963; two fellow teachers left in protest, and the kerfuffle was covered byThe Nation.After refusing a fellowship at theUniversity of Chicago Divinity Schooland a teaching position atDeep Springs College,Lish became editor-in-chief and director of linguistic studies at Behavioral Research Laboratories inMenlo Park, California.There, in 1964, he producedEnglish Grammar,a text for educators;Why Work,a book of interviews;New Sounds in American Fiction,a set of recorded dramatic readings of short stories; andA Man's Work,an information motivation sound system in vocational guidance. It consisted of over 50 translucent albums.

While in Menlo Park, one of Lish's friends wasRaymond Carver,who was then intermittently employed as an editor and public relations director atScience Research Associates,located across the street from Lish's office. Lish edited a number of stories that wound up as Carver's first national magazine publications.

Esquire

Despite his comparative obscurity, Lish relocated to New York City in late 1969 after being hired as fiction editor atEsquireon the basis of a provocativecover letterand the promise to publisherArnold Gingrichthat he would deliver "the new fiction"; he would hold this position until 1977. Here he became known as "Captain Fiction" for the number of authors whose careers he assisted, including Carver,Richard Ford,Cynthia Ozick,Don DeLillo,Reynolds Price,T. Coraghessan Boyle,Raymond Kennedy,Alexander Theroux,andBarry Hannah.With the exception of Ozick and DeLillo, all of these writers taught and/or studied in academiccreative writingprograms, reflecting a totemic shift in the institutionalization of American literature.Throughout this period, Lish taught creative writing atYale Universityas a lecturer and guest fellow.

It was atEsquirethat Lish's aggressive editing of Carver's "Neighbors" in 1971 created the minimalist effect for which he was later known, as Carol Polsgrove pointed out in her 1995 book,It Wasn't Pretty, Folks, But Didn't We Have Fun? Esquire in the Sixties.Polsgrove wrote, "On several pages of the twelve-page manuscript, fewer than half of Carver's words were left standing. Close to half were cut on several other pages." While Carver accepted Lish's editorial changes, other writers (including close friends such as DeLillo, who pulled a planned excerpt from the forthcomingGreat Jones Streetin September 1972 because of Lish's expurgations) resisted. Wrote Paul Bowles, "I fail completely to understand the meaning of the suggestions, or of the story as it incorporates them."

While atEsquire,Lish edited the collectionsThe Secret Life of Our TimesandAll Our Secrets Are the Same,which contained pieces by a number of prominent authors, fromVladimir NabokovtoMilan Kundera.

In February 1977,Esquirepublished "For Rupert – with no promises" as an unsigned work of fiction: this was the first time it had published a work without identifying the author.Readers speculated that it was the work ofJ. D. Salinger,but it was in fact a clever parody by Lish, who is quoted as saying, "I tried to borrow Salinger's voice and the psychological circumstances of his life, as I imagine them to be now. And I tried to use those things to elaborate on certain circumstances and events in his fiction to deepen them and add complexity."

Alfred A. Knopf

Lish leftEsquirein 1977 as senior editor to take a position with the publishing firm ofAlfred A. Knopf;he retained the same title and remained there until 1995. At Knopf, he continued to champion new fiction, publishing works by Ozick, Carver, Hannah, Anderson Ferrell,David Leavitt,Amy Hempel,Noy Holland,Lynne Tillman,Will Ferguson,Harold Brodkey,andJoy Williams.After Lish retired from both teaching and publishing, some of his students continued to make noted contributions to American letters; the National Book Award was won in 2004 byLily TuckforThe News from Paraguay,a novel. In the same yearChristine Schutt'sFloridawas a finalist, and Dana Spiotta was a finalist for the award in 2006 forEat The Document.Other former students whose writing has met with praise includeDiane Williams,Dawn Raffel,William Tester,Victoria Redel,Gary Lutz,Ben Marcus,Sam Lipsyte,Will Eno,and Bahamian writer Garth Buckner, whoseThe Origins of Solitudewas met with some critical acclaim.

After leaving Yale in 1980, Lish continued teaching creative writing as anadjunct professoratColumbia UniversityandNew York University,inspiring writers such asAmy Hempel;Hempel would later dedicate her collectionReasons to Liveto him.Gary Lutzalso dedicatedStories in the Worst Way(first published in 1996 byAlfred A. Knopf) andI Looked Alive(first published in 2003 byFour Walls Eight Windows) to Gordon Lish. Experimental minimalist V.O. Blum is indebted to Lish for having lauded an early novelette "Sperm Boy" in 1994; Blum went on to win kudos for a later novella,DownMind.

Pamela RyderdedicatedCorrection of Drift: A Novel in StoriesandA Tendency to Be Gone: Storiesto Lish.

Other writers who give thanks to Lish in books published by him atAlfred A. KnopfincludeBrian Evenson,Noy Holland,Patricia Lear,Dawn RaffelandVictoria Redel(Where the Road Bottoms Out).

In Holland's thanks, she writes, "Greatest thanks to Gordon, captain in all weather."InSam Lipsyte'sVenus Drive,Lipsyte gives thanks to "especially Gordon Lish," his former teacher.

During his time at Knopf, Lish wrote several books of his own fiction which were published by New York imprints:

• Dear Mr. Capote,his first novel.
• What I Know So Far,a collection of short stories, was published in 1984 and included "For Rupert—with no Promises.", and theO. Henry Award-winning "For Jeromé—with Love and Kisses," a parody ofJ. D. Salinger's story, "For Esmé—with Love and Squalor."
• Peru,published in 1986.

In 1987, Lish founded and edited the avant garde literary magazine,The Quarterly,which showcased the works of contemporary authors. Six volumes were published by the summer of 1988.The Quarterlyintroduced such authors as J. E. Pitts, Jason Schwartz,Jane Smiley,Mark Richard,Bruce Holland Rogers,andJennifer Allen.By the timeThe Quarterlyended in 1995, it had published 31 volumes.

Lish continued to write fiction, includingMourner at the Doorin 1988,Extravaganzain 1989,My Romancein 1991, andZimzumin 1993. For the June 1991 issue ofVanity Fair,James Wolcottwrote a profile on Gordon Lish andDon DeLillocalled "The Sunshine Boys."

He was the recipient of aGuggenheim Fellowshipin 1984.

Carver edits

In August 1998, three years after Carol Polsgrove described Lish's heavy editing ofRaymond Carver'sNeighborsand published a facsimile page showing the editing,The New York Times Magazinepublished an article byD. T. Maxabout the extent of Lish's editing of Carver's short stories which was visible in manuscripts held at theLilly Library.Before his death, Carver had written to Lish: “If I have any standing or reputation or credibility in the world, I owe it to you.”In December 2007,The New Yorkerpublished an earlier and much longer draft of Carver's story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" under Carver's title, "Beginners." The magazine published Lish's extensive edits of the story on its web site for comparison. In May 2010 Giles Harvey wrote an article in theNew York Review of Booksreviewing Carver's work, and made the observation, "The publication of 'Beginners' has not done Carver any favors. Rather, it has inadvertently pointed up the editorial genius of Gordon Lish."Conversely,Stephen KinginThe New York Timesdescribed Lish's influence as 'baleful' and heartless, singling out the story 'The Bath' as 'a total re-write' and 'a cheat'.In 2013, David Winters wrote a profile of Lish forThe Guardian,arguing that the widely publicized association with Carver had distorted Lish's reception, drawing attention away from the formal and stylistic innovation of his own fiction and from the achievements of his students.

Legacy

He was named one of the 200 major writers of our time by the French periodicalLe Nouvel Observateur.Lish has placed his papers and manuscripts, some 80,000 items dating from 1951 to 2012, at the Lilly Library ofIndiana University.

Teaching and influence

In addition to his career in literary publishing, Lish has conducted writing seminars in New York City and served as a lecturer atYale University,New York UniversityandColumbia University.

Lish retired from teaching fiction writing in 1997 but came out of retirement to teach during the summers of 2009 and 2010 at the Center for Fiction in Manhattan.He also gave a series of lectures at Columbia University in 2013 and 2014.

Don DeLillo acknowledged Lish's influence as a teacher and friend in dedicating his bookMao IIto Lish.Lish dedicated his booksMy Romance,Mourner at the Door,andEpigraphto DeLillo. Lish also wrote an afterword to the publication of DeLillo's first play,The Engineer of Moonlight,in which he attacks those who would call DeLillo's vision bleak, stating, "Where we are and where we are going is where DeLillo is. He is our least nostalgic writer of large importance."

In a 2003 interview withThe Review of Contemporary Fiction,Diane Williamssaid, “I studied with Gordon for two semesters in New York because I understood what he was offering—the special chance to become hugely conscious of how language can be manipulated to produce maximum effects. So often, in our naturally powerful speech, we only understand dimly how we are doing it, so that we are deprived of the good fortune of being in charge of it, rather than the other way around.”

He received an honorary doctor of letters from theState University of New York at Oneontain 1994.

InBarry Hannah's short novelRay,there is a character called Captain Gordon who is based on Lish,and Lish appears as himself in Hannah'sBoomerang.

David Leavitt's novelMartin Bauman; or, A Sure Thingdocuments the narrator's experiences under the tutelage of Gordon Lish. In the novel, Lish is the basis for the character of Stanley Flint, an Enigma tic writing teacher.

Criticism

Students of Lish's Columbia University workshop "Tactics of Fiction" have described it with such adjective as "grueling," "hellish" and "sadistic," punctuated by Lish's constant interruptions of "This is entirely self-serving!" and "That's not what I want to hear. That won't help me live or die. It doesn't tell me anything about human truth." They have also called him "an unbelievably crazy, manipulative, egomaniacal person." One student toldSpymagazine, "It was like some ghastly form of torture. To have to sit there listening to this self-indulgent egotist interrupting and insulting everybody. Really, there was not a moment of interest or enjoyment."

Carla Blumenkranz noted inThe New Yorker,"Lish’s willingness to be bored and show it was one of his strengths as an instructor. He created a situation in which each student had to approach him, like a stranger at a party or a bar, to see if she could catch his attention. Lish shot down these nervous suitors one by one, not even bothering to hear out the pickup lines they fretted over. Then he shifted in an instant to a masculine role: talking endlessly, enacting his charisma, awing his listeners into submission."

Lish himself has criticized a number of prominent authors and literary institutions. Among his comments are that "Philip Rothis full of shit ";Jonathan FranzenandJonathan Lethemdo not deserve their reputations;Lydia Davisis "ridiculously overrated"; "I can't readPaul Austeranymore "; the redesign ofThe New Yorkerwas a "dreadful error"; and literary magazinen+1is a "crock of shit."

Select English bibliography

• A Man's Work,New York: McGraw-Hill, (1967), OCLC 5855822
• All Our Secrets Are the Same,New York: W. W. Norton, (1976),ISBN0-393-08748-4LCCN 76040486 OCLC 2425115
• Arcade, or, How to Write a Novel,New York:Four Walls Eight Windows,(1998),ISBN1-56858-115-7LCCN 98026693
• Collected Fictions,New York:OR Books,(2010),ISBN978-0-9842950-5-0
• Dear Mr. Capote,New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1983),ISBN0-03-061477-5LCCN 85026276
• English Grammar,Palo Alto, Ca.: Behavioral Research Laboratories, (1964) OCLC 11328343
• Epigraph,New York:Four Walls Eight Windows,(1996),ISBN1-56858-076-2LCCN 96019753
• Extravaganza,New York: Putnam, (1989),ISBN0-399-13417-4LCCN 88028146 OCLC 18463582
• Goings,New York:OR Books,(2014),ISBN978-1-939293-33-6
• Krupp's Lulu,New York:Four Walls Eight Windows,(2000),ISBN1-56858-154-8LCCN 99086329 OCLC 43324258
• Mourner at the Door,New York: Penguin Books, (1988),ISBN0-14-010680-4LCCN 88031663
• My Romance,New York: W. W. Norton, (1991),ISBN0-393-03001-6LCCN 90024142 OCLC 22766592
• New Sounds in American Fiction,Menlo Park: Cummings Pub. Co. (1969), LCCN 68058434 OCLC 4102981
• Peru,New York: E.P. Dutton, (1986),ISBN0-525-24375-5LCCN 85013015 OCLC 12216053
• Self-Imitation of Myself,New York:Four Walls Eight Windows,(1997),ISBN1-56858-098-3LCCN 97013200 OCLC 36713172
• The Secret Life of Our Times,Garden City: Doubleday, (1973),ISBN0-385-06215-XLCCN 73080734 OCLC 754648
• The Selected Stories of Gordon Lish,Toronto: Somerville House Pub., (1996),ISBN1-895897-74-2OCLC 35927592
• What I Know So Far,New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, (1984),ISBN0-03-070609-2LCCN 83012980 OCLC 9830715
• Why Work,Palo Alto, Ca.: Behavioral Research Laboratories, (1966), OCLC 62726395
• Zimzum,New York: Pantheon, (1993),ISBN0-679-42685-XLCCN 93003360 OCLC 27769736

Awards

• TheAntioch Review2005 Awards for Distinguished Prose
• AGuggenheim Fellowship,1984
• TheO. Henry Prize,1983
• Columbia School of Journalism,for distinguished work in fiction 1971, for nonfiction 1975
• American Society of Magazine Editors, 1971

External links

• Bess, Donovan,"The Man Who Taught Too Well",Nation Magazine,June 15, 1963
• Raymond Carver's story "Beginners"andGordon Lish's edits of the storyto create its published version, entitled "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love."
• Radio interview with Michael Silverblatt and Gordon LishinBookwormon December 12, 1993