"Editing’s just a more relentless and specific form of reading in which you read a book more closely than any sane person would ever think of doing."

Said Gary Fisketjon, quoted in "Gary Fisketjon Has Died. He Edited Ellis, Tartt, McInerney and McCarthy. A champion of slow, methodical editing and long working relationships with writers, he was regarded as one of the best of his generation. He was 72" (NYT).

Remember Vintage Contemporaries?

Less expensive than hardback editions but with an eye-catching design palette that captured the 1980s zeitgeist, Vintage Contemporaries allowed Mr. Fisketjon to take risks on new authors and resurrect the careers of respected but underselling midcareer writers, like Raymond Carver and Thomas McGuane.... 

Mr. Fisketjon developed a reputation for methodical editing and close personal relationships with his writers. Armed with a green pen, he would go slowly, reading just five pages an hour, covering each with a spider web of notes, suggestions and cuts....