Gordon Lish Libri

With Death and So Forth , esteemed writer and editor Gordon Lish returns with a new book of scintillating short fiction. With his trademark precision, wit, and wiliness, Lish writes outside the margins and around the edges of the death, loss, and the fractiousness and fragmentation of language. Death and So Forth collects a number of Lish’s acclaimed stories and introduces eight new fictions, including a tribute to Denis Johnson and so many others lost in the course of a long life. Brilliant and sharp-eyed, this is a treasure for fans of Gordon Lish, new and lifelong.

Set in the Five Towns of New York, the narrative follows Gordon Lish, an influential editor haunted by a dark secret from his past—having accidentally killed a child in a sandbox. Years later, he faces blackmail over this unprosecuted crime. His wife, Penelope, a mysterious figure with covert government connections, intervenes, complicating the situation further. This story intertwines themes of guilt, power dynamics, and the consequences of past actions, making it a unique exploration of Lish's life and career.

Lish's latest work of exquisitely crafted fiction sees a narrator - variously Gordon, I, He - approaching the precipice of old age. White Plains is Lish at his sharpest, tackling his perennial subject - the memory of memory itself - with spellbinding mastery.