Description

Book Synopsis

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is Carver''s most famous collection of short stories and remians one of the most influential pieces of modern literature to date. 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.

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.



Trade Review
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 * Guardian *
Hopefully, thanks to Gallagher, every small, vital nuance, every moving observation, each choice of word as Carver wrote it, is there to be seen; that is why Carver cared enough to begin setting it right, and others have now finished the task -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *
An extraordinary book, more generous and rambling in tone than its distilled counterpart -- Tim Adams * Observer *
The most interesting book of the year * Sunday Telegraph *
an extraordinary book, and probably the most influential story collection of the past 30 years -- Tim Adams * Observer *

Beginners

    Product form

    A Paperback / softback by Raymond Carver

    £9.49

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    RRP £9.99 – you save £0.50 (5%)

    Order before 4pm on Tuesday for delivery by Thu 5 Nov 2026.

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      Book details

      Imprint Vintage
      Published 7 October 2010
      ISBN-13 9780099540328
      978-0099540328
      ISBN-10 0099540320

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is Carver''s most famous collection of short stories and remians one of the most influential pieces of modern literature to date. 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.

      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.



      Trade Review
      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 * Guardian *
      Hopefully, thanks to Gallagher, every small, vital nuance, every moving observation, each choice of word as Carver wrote it, is there to be seen; that is why Carver cared enough to begin setting it right, and others have now finished the task -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *
      An extraordinary book, more generous and rambling in tone than its distilled counterpart -- Tim Adams * Observer *
      The most interesting book of the year * Sunday Telegraph *
      an extraordinary book, and probably the most influential story collection of the past 30 years -- Tim Adams * Observer *

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