Beginners
Raymond CarverRaymond Carver is one of the most celebrated short-story writers in American literature — his style is both instantly recognizable and hugely influential — and the pieces in What We Talk About... which portray the gritty loves and lives of the American working class, are counted among the foundation stones of the contemporary short story.
But the original, unedited manuscript, Beginners – published here for the first time, was almost fifty per cent longer than the published collection. This restored version of Carver’s stories reveals what was previously unsaid, filling in the narrative silences that have both inspired and mystified readers for so long. In this unedited text, we gain insight into the process of a great writer. These expansive stories illuminate the many dimensions of Carver’s style and are indispensable to our understanding of his legacy.
"Beginners is unlikely to replace What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Instead, it will be in dialogue with it, because the story has no end: there will always be afterthoughts." - Sarah Churchwell, The Guardian
Beginners is a fascinating insight into the aesthetic of a literary great and, in the questions it raises, may just spark off one of the great cultural debates of our times.
Text established by William L. Stull and Maureen P. Carroll