Carver.

Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" and "Beginners" are two different versions of the same story.  One gutted by his editor, Gordon Lish, and one, published years later due to his widow's insistence.  "Beginners" is the uncut version that Carver originally wrote without alteration.  When "What We Talk About" was first published, it received critical acclaim.  Of the two, I think Lish's edited version is simply a more interesting and engaging story.  Though they are based on the same work, the story is dramatically changed, as well as being much shorter.  The revelation of the different types of love is present in both stories, though explored a bit deeper in "Beginners."  Though Mel is not portrayed as understanding the form of absolute love illustrated by the old couple, I don't think it matters that he doesn't.  Based on his clearly abusive personality in both versions, I don't see why he would understand how that old man could be so broken up just because he couldn't see his wife.  A lot of Herb's dialogue in "Beginners" starts to sound repetitive only a few pages into the story; it feels almost unnecessary. 

The ending of both stories reveals that when "We" talk about love, we don't really come across a concrete answer.  Pinning and defining what love is as difficult as explaining what an abstract concept should be, and both versions of the story do that message justice.  Whereas "Beginners" feels disjointed at times (I may need another read through to really connect it, but the first couple of times felt really inaccessible), "What We Talk About" does well to contain the overarching theme of Carver's original version, even if Lish's treatment of the story seems excessive and harsh.