All posts tagged George Saunders

George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer. He is best known for his short stories and his novel Lincoln in the Bardo (2017), which won the Booker Prize. His short stories have been published as several collections, including CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996) and Tenth of December - Stories (2013).

Vigil

Published on May 20, 2026

This is the finest climate change novel I’ve read, but it’s way more than that. It’s a novel about empathy. About coping in a deterministic world, where capitalism has consumed itself, left billions in hell while enriching a few. Vigil centers on Jill “Doll” Blaine, a woman who died tragically in her early twenties during the 1970s and now serves as an ethereal death doula. Operating in a liminal, afterlife space reminiscent of Saunders’s Booker Prize-winning Lincoln in the Bardo...

Pastoralia

Published on March 19, 2024

George Saunders published Pastoralia in 2000. The collection consists of six stories, each exploring themes of consumerism, capitalism, and the complexities of human relationships. Set in a theme park, the title story “Pastoralia” is a darkly comedic satire. Employees live and act like prehistoric cave dwellers. The protagonist, a man known as “the cave man,” struggles to maintain a sense of dignity and purpose. In the real world, we learn the cave man has a wife and they have a...

Liberation Day

Published on April 17, 2023

Saunders continues to challenge and surprise in his latest book of stories: Liberation Day . A collection of prismatic, resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality. Love Letter “Love Letter” is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson. Amid a dystopian political future that reminds us of our obligations to our ideals, ourselves, and one another. ⭐ Liberation Day (87k PDF) Ghoul “Ghoul” takes place in a Hell-themed section of an underground...

A Swim in the Pond in the Rain

Published on January 21, 2020

In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Saunders shares a version of his writing class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In the introduction of A Swim in a Pond in...

Lincoln in the Bardo

Published on November 29, 2018

Lincoln in the Bardo is a 2017 experimental novel by American writer George Saunders. It is Saunders’ first full-length novel. It was on The New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller for the week of March 5, 2017. The novel takes place during and after the death of Abraham Lincoln’s son William “Willie” Wallace Lincoln and deals with the president’s grief at his loss. The bulk of the novel takes place throughout a single evening. It is set in the bardo...

Fox 8

Published on June 22, 2016

Fox 8 is a novella written by George Saunders and published in 2013. It tells the story of Fox8, a clever and curious fox living in a suburban landscape impacted by human development. The novella is narrated from Fox 8’s perspective. His unique voice and broken English add a distinct charm to the story. Or a lady drops her purse and bends to retreev her guds, when sudden lee her hat blows away, at which time, speeking a bad werd,...