fwriction

Exactly a month ago today, I posted the first Story of the Day: Ray Carver’s “Beginners,” which was essentially “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” without the influence of Carver’s editor, Gordon Lish. The relationship between Carver and Lish is one that I’m eternally fascinated b, and has captured the imagination of many a student of the short story. To celebrate a month of SOTD, enjoy Lish’s “I’m Wide,” from The Collagist:

“My wife and small son were away for the week, having removed themselves from the day-to-day predicament for a brief travel to a place of better weather. I was fine the first night, and remained equally fine the second and third, feeding myself from the cabinets and cupboards and pantry and doing what seemed expectable in the way of tidying up. Yet each night I would put off my hour of retirement a trifle longer than that which had found me seeking the sanctuary of my bed the night previous—so that by the fourth night, it was virtually daybreak when I sought the security of blankets and pillow.”