Everybody Loves Ray

February 1, 1979

I’m going to Mardi Gras with Tess; and the Fords are coming down in March for spring break and we’re going into Mexico by train for a week. . . . I’m happy, and I’m sober. It’s aces right now, Gordon. I know better than anyone a fellow is never out of the woods, but right now it’s aces, and I’m enjoying it.

Yup, it’s the New Yorker’s holiday present to us, the Winter Fiction Issue, gloriously adorned with a Raymond Carver portfolio.

I haven’t received my hard copy yet, but on their site they have an n+1 edition of the feature. Here’s what you get for your $4.95: the before-editing version of “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” with its original, almost-as-good title, “Beginners”; a version of the story showing Gordon Lish’s edits, a selection of Ray’s letters to Lish; a little explanation of their relationship; and some Ray and Tess photos.

The whole thing is downright inspiring. Makes one want to write, or at least go rent Short Cuts and watch Lyle Lovett play a creepy baker.