Since 1998
On August 9, 1998, three years after Carol Polsgrove described Lish's heavy editing of Carver's "Neighbors" and a facisimile page showing the editing,The New York Times Magazine published an article by D.T. Max about the extent of Lish's editing of the late Raymond Carver's short stories—visible in manuscripts at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington. Carver wrote Lish: “If I have any standing or reputation or credibility in the world, I owe it to you.” In December 2007 The New Yorker magazine published 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 the New York Review of Books reviewing 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, in the New York Times Stephen King described Lish's influence as 'baleful' and heartless, singling out the story 'The Bath' as 'a total re-write' and 'a cheat'.
Lish has placed all his papers and manuscripts at the Lilly Library of Indiana University. He was named one of the 200 major writers of our time by the French periodical Le Nouvel Observateur.
His most recent book is a collection of his stories from past books, most of which he has apparently revised: Collected Fictions (2010, OR Books).
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