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Gordon Lish

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Gordon Jay Lish (born February 11, (1934) in Hewlett, New York) is an American writer whose fiction, stories, and novels plays are recognized literary classics. He is best known as "Captain Fiction" and his work with Raymond Carver and Richard Ford. He is noted for encouraging Raymond Carver's minimalism and the short stories of Richard Ford.

The Pages of Lish

Writers that he has taught, edited and published comprise a Who's Who list of important literary innovators over the past 40 years; Jane Smiley, Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Harold Brodkey, Don DeLillo, Barry Hannah, Lynne Tillman, Mary Robison, Bette Howland, Bette Pesetsky, Michael Marton, John S. P. Walker, Bruce McCall, James Laughlin, William Ferguson, Janet Kauffman, Jack Gilbert, Roy Blount, Raymond Kennedy, Robert Plunket, Leon Rooke, Mark Richard, Lily Tuck, Greg Mulchahy, Dawn Raffel and Raymond Carver all were published early in their careers in the pages of Lish.

Early life

Gordon Lish graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1952. In 1959, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English with honors from the University of Arizona, where he met his first wife, Loretta Frances Fokes Lish. They married Nov. 1956. In 1957, they had their first daughter, Jennifer Lish.

Following Gordon's graduation, the family moved to San Francisco in search of Dean Moriarity, the name given Neal Cassady in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. While in San Francisco, they had their second daughter, Becca Lish in 1959. Gordon attended a year of graduate study at San Francisco State College in 1960. Early 1961, Candido Santogrossi and Gordon founded a new Pacific Coast avant garde literary, The Chrysalis Review.

As Founder and Editor of Genesis West

After this, the Lish family moved to Burlingame, where Loretta Frances Fokes Lish and Gordon founded the avant garde literary magazine "Genesis West," which ran from 1961 to 1964. Genesis West was published in seven volumes by The Chrysalis West Foundation. While working on Genesis West their house and magazine became a focus point and celebrated & introduced such authors and poets as; Neal Cassady, Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Jack Gilbert, and Herbert Gold

The Lish family often hosted the likes of Ken Kesey and Neal Cassady in their Burlingame home. The Merry Pranksters wildly painted school bus, 'Furthur,' driven by Neal Cassady was often parked in-front of their home. Neal Cassady makes note of his time spent at the Lishes on page 151 of his only self authored book, The First Third. Carolyn Cassady makes note of the Lish's on page 387 on Off The Road.

To support his efforts, Gordon worked as an English teacher at Lowell High School, Mills High School and at the College of San Mateo from 1961 to 1963. During this period, their son, Ethan Lish, was born in 1962. While at Mills High School, he taught the likes of John Craig Venter to expand their minds.

Genesis West volume one was published in the Fall of 1962 as a celebration of Jack Gilbert's poetry. This volume includes poems by Jack and interview of Jack by Gordon.

Genesis West volume two was published in the Winter of 1962 with an interview of George P. Elliott. This volume includes works by George and interview of George by Gordon.

Genesis West volume three was published in the Spring of 1963 with Harvey Swados appraising the New Yorker. Others include; Hayden Carruth, and William Peden.

Genesis West volume four was published in the Summer of 1963 with an essay by Edward Loomis. Others include; Ann Halprin, Carol Bergé and Jack Gilbert.

Genesis West volume five was published in the Fall of 1963 as a celebration of Ken Kesey. This volume includes works by Ken and interview of Ken by Gordon. Others include; Donald Barthelme, and Jack Gilbert.

Genesis West volume six was published in the Winter of 1964 with an interview of Herbert Gold. Others include; Edward Loomis, and Jack Gilbert.

Genesis West volume seven was published in the Winter of 1965 with an interview of Gordon Lish. Others include; Hayden Carruth, Grace Paley, Neal Cassady, Ken Kesey, and Jack Gilbert.

In 1963, he became director of linguistic studies at Behavioral Research Laboratories in Menlo Park, California, where, in 1964, he wrote the textbook English Grammar, Why Work, A Man's Work, and New sounds in American fiction. He also met his soon to be second wife, Barbara Works Lish, while at Behavioral Research Laboratories. In 1965, Gordon and Loretta Frances Fokes Lish separated.

English Grammar is a programmed text for educational instructors. This is a multi-volume series; v. 1. Syntactic elements, v. 2. Syntactic and non-syntactic elements, Teacher's manual, Instructor's manual and a Test Booklet. This was used in a number of schools during the 1960s.

Why Work consists of twenty-one selections by writers. There is a four page interview of each writer. Twelve taped recordings by those authors asterisked; William Anderson*, Robert O. Bowen*, Kay Boyle, Hayden Carruth, Evan S. Connell, Stanley Elkin*, George P. Elliott, James T. Farrell, George Garrett*, W. H. Gass*, Dave Godfrey*, Herbert Gold, John Graves*, Calvin Kentfield*, Gordon Lish*, Edward Loomis, William Peden, Harvey Swados, Robin White*, Leonard Wolf* and Grace Paley*.

A Man's Work is an information motivation sound system in vocational guidance. A Man's Work consists of fifty program records, a special introduction record, and an instructor's guide. These are cool translucent albums with recordings on both sides. For several years, Gordon Lish did not go any where without his over the shoulder reel to reel tape recorder and microphone. This series engages the listener in a dialogue with Gordon Lish continually directing the listener's attention to the simple fact of a job, a place to go, something to do, people who need you, that celebrates work as an essential ingredient in a meaningful life.

In Sept. 1969, Gordon and Loretta Frances Fokes Lish are divorced.

New sounds in American fiction is dramatic readings of twelve short stories and conversations with the authors. This series consists of twelve records, a companion book and an instructor's guide. Selections include; Kay Boyle about "Winter Night", Bruce Jay Friedman about "The Man They Threw Out of Jets", Richard Yates about "The Best of Everything", William Peden about "Nightfall in Funland", William Melvin Kelley about "Not Exactly Lena Horne", George Garrett about "An Evening Performance", James Purdy about "Daddy Wolf", Grace Paley about "A Subject of Childhood", John Graves about "The Last Running", Stanley Elkin about "A Poetics for Bullies", Donald Barthelme "The Piano Player", and Edward Loomis about "A Kansas Girl"

Barbara Works Lish and Gordon are married in May 1969.

While in Menlo Park, California, one of Gordon's friends was Raymond Carver, who was editing educational materials in an office across the street from where Gordon had worked. They were drinking pals, Raymond Carver tall, handsome, and deliberate, Gordon short and wiry. Gordon reworked and returned Craver's stories, using as his model the disorienting, unemotive stories of James Purdy, the author of "Why Can't They Tell You Why?" The stories -- "Fat," "Neighbors" and "Are You a Doctor?" -- wound up as Carver's first national magazine publications. Critics quickly took notice of the "new" voice in fiction Lish was championing, of its radical compression (many stories were but a few pages long) and stark silences.

As an Editor at Esquire Magazine

Gordon Lish served as fiction editor at Esquire (magazine) from 1969 to 1976 where he became known as "Captain Fiction" for the number of authors whose careers he assisted. Gordon Lish, the new fiction editor, helped establish the career of writer Raymond Carver by publishing his short stories in Esquire (magazine), often over the objections of Hayes. As the fiction editor of Esquire (magazine) from 1969 to 1976, he was instrumental in the development of what is often termed literary minimalism through his editing of Raymond Carver and Richard Ford. He is noted for encouraging Raymond Carver's minimalism and the short stories of Richard Ford.

Using the influential publication as a vehicle to introduce new fiction by emerging authors, he promoted the work of such writers as Cynthia Ozick, Reynolds Price, T. Coraghessan Boyle, and Barry Hannah.

In 1971, Gordon Lish published Raymond Carver’s story "Neighbors" in Esquire (magazine)’s June issue. Now married to Barbara Works Lish, living in New York City, they had their second son Atticus Lish, in 1971.

"The secret life of our times" was published by Doubleday in 1973. The "Introduction" is written by Tom Wolfe. Other contributors include Bruce Jay Friedman, William Harrison, Raymond Carver, Don DeLillo, James Purdy, Joy Williams, Joyce Carol Oates, Bernard Malamud, Vladimir Nabokov, Jorge Luis Borges, A. B. Yehoshua, Richard Brautigan, John Barth, John Gardner, Michael Rogers, John Irving, and others.

Gordon Lish published Raymond Carver’s story "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" in The Best American Short Stories of 1976.

"All our secrets are the same" was published by Norton in 1976. The forward is written by Gordon Lish. The collection includes works by T. Coraghessan Boyle, Harold Brodkey, Raymond Carver, John Cheever, Tom Cole, Don Delillo, Barry Hannah, William Harrison, William Kotzwinkle, Milan Kundera, Robert Nye, Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, James Purdy, Michael Rogers, James Thomas, Joy Williams and others.

In February 1977, Esquire (magazine) published, "For Rupert - with no promises" as an unsigned work of fiction. This was the first time in its 44 year history that Esquire (magazine) hadn't identified a fiction writer. Readers speculated that it was the work of "J. D. Salinger", the reclusive author best known for "The Catcher in the Rye". As for the story, the signals are quite clear; first-person singular, names of the Glass family in "For Esmé with Love and Squalor", events from the story "For Esmé with Love and Squalor". Gordon 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 certian circumstances and events in his fiction to deepen them and add complexity." The Wall Street Journal 2/25/1977

As an Editor at Alfred A. Knopf

Gordon Lish left Esquire (magazine) in 1977 to become a senior editor with the publishing firm of Alfred A. Knopf. He continued teaching creative writing, inspiring writers including Amy Hempel (who dedicated her collection "Reasons to Live" to him), Tom Spanbauer, Noy Holland, Gary Lutz, Bruce Ducker, among many others.

Gordon Lish served as a fiction editor at 'Alfred A. Knopf' from 1977 to 1995, where he continued to champion new fiction, introducing such writers as Raymond Carver, Cynthia Ozick, David Leavitt, Amy Hempel, Noy Holland, Lynne Tillman, William Ferguson, Barry Hannah, Harold Brodkey, and Joy Williams.

A number of books have been dedicated to Atticus Lish by Gordon Lish's friends and authors, like Don DeLillo.

In 1981, Raymond Carver’s second major-press book, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", is published by Alfred A. Knopf after being edited by Lish.

"Dear Mr. Capote", Gordon's first novel, under his own name, was published by Scribner’s Sons. According to "The New York Times Book Review", this book was "one of the best first novels of the year".

"What I know so far" was first published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston in 1984. This hardback edition is a collection of his short stories. Of note are: "How to write a poem," "For Rupert - with no promises," and "For Jeromé, with Love and Kisses."

"What I know so far" was republished as a paperback by Scribner in their Signature Series in 1986.

Peru was published by Dutton in 1986. "In Peru, our fascination springs from the terror of compulsive memory and from the novelist's struggle to turn it into art. It is a struggle that Gordon Lish wins brilliantly." — Don DeLillo "An outstanding performer in prose fiction, Lish (author of Dear Mr. Capote and a short-story collection, What I know so far) here again delves into a psychotic mind and surpasses himself. Impassioned and forceful, the novel catapults the reader into the mind and heart of the narrator, Gordon, a man in his early 50s living on Manhattan's Upper East Side." From Publishers Weekly January 22

As an Editor at The Quarterly

He founded and edited the avant garde literary magazines, The Quarterly in 1987. The Quarterly showcases the works of contemporary authors.

Volume 1 of The Quarterly was published in the Spring of 1987. "The Magzine of New American Writing" featured works by; Amy Hempel, Tom Spanbauer, Matthew Levine, Jane Smiley, Jack Gilbert, Harold Brodkey, Patty Marx and others.

Volume 2 of The Quarterly was published in the Summer of 1987. "The Magzine of New American Writing" featured works by; Noy Holland, Mark Richard, Nancy Lemann, Ann Pyne, Jack Gilbert, Paulette Jiles, Rick Bass and others.

Volume 3 of The Quarterly was published in the Fall of 1987. "The Magzine of New American Writing" featured works by; Mark Richard, Hellen Schulman, Ted Pejovich, Sunny Rogers, Ann Pyne, Diane Williams, Rick Bass and others.

Volume 4 of The Quarterly was published in the Winter of 1987. "The Magzine of New American Writing" featured works by; Sharon Dupree, Mark Richard, Michael Hickins, Yannick Murphy, Patrick McGrath, Jan Pendleton, Rebecca Bondor, George Angel, Stephen O'Connor and others.

Volume 5 of The Quarterly was published in the Spring of 1988. "The Magzine of New American Writing" featured works by; Jennifer Allen, William Tester, Janet Mitchell, Sharon Dupree, Robert Fox, Sheila Kohler and others.

Volume 6 of The Quarterly was published in the Summer of 1988. "The Magzine of New American Writing" featured works by; Ann Pyne, Jan Pendleton, Victor Barall, Jennifer Allen, Harold Brodkey, M. D. Stein and others.

"Mourner at the door" was published by Penguin Books in 1988.

Extravaganza was published by Putnam in 1989.

While on the Dick Cavett television show Aug. 25, 1991, Gordon Lish said, "The secret of good writing is telling the truth."

Vanity Fair ran a profile on Gordon Lish and Don DeLillo in the June, 1991 issue, called "The Sunshine Boys" by James Wolcott. Don DeLillo is described as "America's leading literary diagnostician."

"My romance" was published by Norton in 1991.

Zimzum was published by Pantheon in 1993.

He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1994.

He was a founding editor of The Pushcart Prize series.

In 1994, Barbara Works Lish died widowing Gordon.

The Quarterly ended with the final publication of volume 31 in the Fall of 1995.

Epigraph was published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1996.

"What I know so far" was republished as a paperback by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1996.

"Self-imitation of myself" was published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1997.

On Aug. 9, 1998, "The New York Times Magazine" published an article by D.T. Max about claims that the late Raymond Carver's early short stories were more or less ghost-written by his editor, Gordon Lish.

"Arcade, or, How to write a novel" was published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1998.

"Krupp’s Lulu" was published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 2000.

Mysterium was published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 2002.

Additional unpublished manuscripts of Gordon Lish's are referenced in literary circles; "White Plains", "Chinese".

Several of Gordon Lish's books are also available in non-English editions.

As a Teacher

In addition to his career in literary publishing, Gordon Lish has conducted writing seminars in New York City and served as a lecturer at Yale University, New York University and Columbia University. In private workshops, Lish provided students with a vision and an invitation. For students it was an unbroken hours of lecture, anecdote, good humor and student readings, the recurrent message is this: Here is the possibility, these are the difficulties, all are welcome and able.

Don DeLillo dedicated his book Mao II to Gordon Lish.

He is a graduate of the Gotham Writers Workshop. He is a winner of the Book of the Century Award. He is an honorary doctor of letters from State University of New York from 1994. He was named one of the 200 major writers of our time by the French periodical Le Nouvel Observateur.

Gordon Lish retired from teaching fiction writing in 1997. Some have named his thirty-year teaching crusade "The School of Lish".

One of his students, Tom Spanbauer, in turn taught Chuck Palahniuk, the multi-bestselling author of Fight Club.

Writers who are former proteges of Gordon Lish include Noy Holland, Bruce Ducker, Gary Lutz, Michael Hemmingson, Sam Lipsyte, Brian Evenson, and Sam Michel.

An archive at Lilly Library

Gordon Lish has placed all his papers and manuscripts at the Lilly Library of Indiana University. It has been reported that these papers show how Lish edited manuscripts of the writers he worked with like Raymond Carver, how Lish edited them, and the correspondence about the editorial changes.

John Malkovich plans to direct Gordon Lish's book Dear Mr. Capote as it is being adaptated into a screenplay.

Quotes

  • "The secret of good writing is telling the truth." -- Gordon Lish, Dick Cavett television interview, Aug. 25, 1991
  • "It’s not what happens to people on the page; it’s about what happens to a reader in his heart and mind." -- Gordon Lish
  • "I see the notion of talent as quite irrelevant. I see instead perseverance, application, industry, assiduity, will, will, will, desire, desire, desire." -- Gordon Lish
  • "Never be sincere — sincerity is the death of writing" -- Gordon Lish

Trivia

Select English Bibliography

Gordon Lish is the author of a number of novels and collections of his short stories

  • A Man's Work, New York : McGraw-Hill, (1967), OCLC 5855822
  • All Our Secrets are The Same, New York : Norton, (1976), ISBN 0393087484 LCCN 76040486 OCLC 2425115
  • Arcade, or, How to write a novel, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1998), ISBN 1-56858-115-7 LCCN 98026693
  • Dear Mr. Capote, New York : C. Scribner’s Sons, (1986), ISBN 0-684-18675-6 LCCN 85026276
  • Dear Mr. Capote, New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, (1983), ISBN 0-306-1477-5 LCCN 82015543 OCLC 8762825
  • Dear Mr. Capote, Firecrest, (1989), ISBN 0-859-97981-4 OCLC 19264905
  • Dear Mr. Capote, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1996), ISBN 1-56858-079-7 LCCN 96025820 OCLC 59652027
  • English Grammar, Palo Alto, Ca.: Behavioral Research Laboratories, (1964) OCLC 11328343
  • Epigraph, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1996), ISBN 1-56858-076-2 LCCN 96019753
  • Extravaganza, New York : Putnam, (1989), ISBN 0-399-13417-4 LCCN 88028146 OCLC 18463582
  • Extravaganza, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1997), ISBN 1-56858-097-5 LCCN 97023122
  • Extravaganza, New York : White Plane Press, (1990), ISBN 1-877727-05-9 LCCN 22359622
  • Genesis West, Volumes 1 to 7, Burlingame : The Chrysalis West Foundation. (1962), ISSN 0435-2807 LCCN 6323336
  • Krupp’s Lulu, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (2000), ISBN 1-56858-154-8 LCCN 99086329 OCLC 43324258
  • Mourner at the door, New York : Penguin Books, (1988), ISBN 0-140-10680-4 LCCN 88031663
  • Mourner at the door, New York : Viking, (1988), ISBN 0-670-82061-X LCCN 87040324 OCLC 16527016
  • Mourner at the door, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1997), ISBN 1-56858-084-3 LCCN 96051153
  • My Romance, New York : Norton, (1991), ISBN 0-393-03001-6 LCCN 90024142 OCLC 22766592
  • Mysterium, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (2002), ISBN 1-56858-227-7 LCCN 2001055668 OCLC 48450878
  • New Sounds in American Fiction, Menlo Park : Cummings Pub. Co. (1969), LCCN 68058434 OCLC 4102981
  • Peru, New York : E.P. Dutton, (1986), ISBN 0-525-24375-5 LCCN 85013015 OCLC 12216053
  • Peru, New York : Scribner, (1986), ISBN 0-684-18764-7 LCCN 87024317
  • Peru Sevenoaks : Sceptre, (1987), ISBN 0-340-41723-4 OCLC 16754420
  • Peru, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1997), ISBN 1-56858-085-1 LCCN 96037673
  • Self-imitation of Myself, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1997), ISBN 1-56858-098-3 LCCN 97013200 OCLC 36713172
  • The Gabbernot (unpublished? in the liner notes of "The Secret Life of Our Times")
  • The Quarterly, Volumes 1 to 31, New York : Vintage Books, (1987), ISBN 1-896356-03-6 OCLC 68143933
  • The Secret Life of Our Times, Garden City : Doubleday, (1973), ISBN 0-385-06215-X LCCN 73080734 OCLC 754648
  • The Selected Stories of Gordon Lish, Toronto : Somerville House Pub., (1996), ISBN 1-895897-74-2 OCLC 35927592
  • What I know so far, New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, (1984), ISBN 0-03-070609-2 LCCN 83012980 OCLC 9830715
  • What I know so far, New York : Scribner, (1986), ISBN 0-684-18644-6 LCCN 86001829
  • What I know so far, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1996), ISBN 1-56858-080-0 LCCN 96028631
  • Why Work, Palo Alto, Ca.: Behavioral Research Laboratories, (1966), OCLC 62726395
  • Zimzum, New York : Pantheon, (1993), ISBN 0-679-42685-X LCCN 93003360 OCLC 27769736
  • Zimzum, New York : Four Walls Eight Windows, (1998), ISBN 1-56858-109-2 LCCN 97032894

Select non-English Bibliography

Gordon Lish is the author of a number of novels and collections of his short stories that have been translated to other languages

  • Dear Mr Capote, Paris : Editions Calmann-Levy, ([[1991 in literature|1991)
  • Ma romance, Paris : AGNES VIENOT EDITIONS, (2003), ISBN 2-914645-39-2
  • Tous les paris, Paris : AGNES VIENOT EDITIONS, (2003), ISBN 2-914645-40-6
  • Zimzum, Paris : Gallimard, (1994), ISBN 2-07-073842-6 OCLC 32748725

Editor

Gordon Lish was the editor of a number of novels and collections of short stories by other authors. Select highlights include;

  • Barry Hannah; Captain Maximus Short Stories and Screen Treatment, New York : Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated New York, NY, U.S.A. 1985
  • Barry Hannah; Ray, New York : Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated New York, NY, U.S.A. 1980
  • Diane Williams Some Sexual Success Stories: Plus Other Stories in Which God Might Choose to Appear

Awards

  • [1] A Poem by Gordon Lish in South Atlantic Quarterly
  • [2] How to Write a Poem by Gordon Lish in the THE PARIS REVIEW No. 82
  • [3] The Day Mother Invented Junk Food; Mother Lish's Bologna Sandwich
  • [22] Gordon Lish wins the O. Henry Prize in 1984 and 1986
  • [23] John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellows

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