Beginners Read online

  Pie. Beginners: eleven-page manuscript cut by 29 percent for inclusion in WWTA as “A Serious Talk.” PREVIOUS PUBLICATION: A version of “A Serious Talk” that was the product of Lish’s first and partial second editing of “Pie” appeared in Missouri Review, Fall 1980. In December 1980 a version of “Pie” that was nearly identical to the version in Beginners was published in Playgirl. (The story takes place at Christmastime, and the magazine had held it for the holiday issue.) SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION: “A Serious Talk” was collected in WICF as it appeared in WWTA.

  The Calm. Beginners: nine-page manuscript cut by 25 percent for inclusion in WWTA as “The Calm.” PREVIOUS PUBLICATION: “The Calm,” Iowa Review, Summer 1979. The text in Iowa Review is identical to the text in Beginners. NOTE ON WWTA: In editing the last sentence of “The Calm” Lish changed Carver’s description of the barber’s touch from “sadness” to “tenderness” and later to “sweetness.” SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION: “The Calm” was collected in WICF in a version nearly identical to that in WWTA.

  Mine. Beginners: “Mine” is the only story for which no typescript is preserved in the manuscript of Beginners. The story is included in the second revised manuscript of WWTA, which corresponds to Lish’s second editing of the book. The three-page typescript of “Mine” was cut by only 1 percent. PREVIOUS PUBLICATION: “Mine” made its first appearance in FS. An identical version was published under the title “Little Things” in Fiction, 1978. In June 1978 “Mine” was reprinted unchanged from FS in Playgirl. In April 1977 Carver had sent “a three-page mini-story” titled “A Separate Debate” to Noel Young of Capra Press, together with the signed contract for FS. Carver simultaneously submitted the story to Lish, who edited it for possible publication in Esquire. Lish cut “A Separate Debate” by 7 percent and asked Carver to change the title. Carver renamed the story “Little Things,” then “Mine” in FS incorporated many but not all of Lish’s editorial suggestions and is virtually identical to the text in Beginners. NOTE ON WWTA: Lish changed the title from “Mine” to “Popular Mechanics” in his second editing of the Beginners manuscript. SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION: The text of the story was collected in WICF as it appeared in WWTA, but Carver changed the title from “Popular Mechanics” to “Little Things.”

  Distance. Beginners: thirteen-page manuscript cut by 45 percent for inclusion in WWTA as “Everything Stuck to Him.” PREVIOUS PUBLICATION: “Distance,” Chariton Review, Fall 1975; collected in FS. The source of the text in FS was a photocopy of pages from Chariton Review on which Carver had made incidental corrections. “Distance” was reprinted from FS in Playgirl, March 1978. The text in FS is identical to the text in Beginners. SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION: “Distance” as collected in Fires is for the most part a restoration of the text in FS. In addition, the text in Fires incorporates a few of Lish’s revisions of the story in WWTA and several changes suggested in marginalia by Tess Gallagher. The version in Fires was collected in WICF.

  Beginners. Beginners: thirty-three-page manuscript cut by 50 percent for inclusion in WWTA as “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” PREVIOUS PUBLICATION: A version of “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” that was the product of Lish’s second editing of Beginners and his corrections to the printer’s manuscript of WWTA appeared in Antaeus, Winter–Spring 1981. NOTE ON WWTA: The Beginners manuscript of “Beginners” bears corrections in Carver’s hand, including his cancellation of the two final sentences: “Then it would get better. I knew if I closed my eyes, I could get lost.” In Lish’s first editing of the story he cut the last five pages. In his second editing he changed the title from “Beginners” to “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and deleted the names of the old couple “Anna” and “Henry [Gates].” SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” was collected in WICF as it appeared in WWTA. “Beginners” was published in The New Yorker of December 24–31, 2007, as it appeared in the Beginners manuscript.

  One More Thing. Beginners: seven-page manuscript cut by 37 percent for inclusion in WWTA as “One More Thing.” PREVIOUS PUBLICATION: “One More Thing,” North American Review, March 1981. The text in North American Review is nearly identical to the text in Beginners. NOTE ON WWTA: In the course of editing the story Lish changed the name of the daughter from Bea to Rayette and later, at Carver’s suggestion, to Rae. SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION: “One More Thing” was collected in WICF as it appeared in WWTA.