'One of the best science fiction short stories to be published in the 21st century so far' SFX
Review 'Saunders is funny and kind as ever and his narrative virtuosity puts him up there with
the best' Anne Enright Guardian 'A triumph of storytelling' i paper 'A joy. 'Effortlessly
stylish funny and smart' Daily Mail ____________ The first short story collection in ten years
from the Man Booker Prize-winning New York Times-bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo
MacArthur genius and Booker Prize-winner George Saunders returns with a collection of short
stories that make sense of our increasingly troubled world his first since the New York Times
bestseller and National Book Award finalist Tenth of December The 'best short story writer in
English' (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power ethics and
justice and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow
humans. With his trademark prose - wickedly funny unsentimental and perfectly tuned -
Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic deeply
resonant stories that encompass joy and despair oppression and revolution bizarre fantasy and
brutal reality. 'Love Letter' is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson in the midst of
a dystopian political situation in the not-too-distant future that reminds us of our
obligations to our ideals ourselves and each other. 'Ghoul' is set in a Hell-themed section
of an underground amusement park in Colorado and follows the exploits of a lonely morally
complex character named Brian who comes to question everything he takes for granted about his
'reality.' In 'Mother's Day' two women who loved the same man come to an existential reckoning
in the middle of a hailstorm. And in 'Elliott Spencer' our eighty-nine-year-old protagonist
finds himself brainwashed - his memory 'scraped' - a victim of a scheme in which poor
vulnerable people are reprogrammed and deployed as political protesters. Together these nine
subversive profound and essential stories coalesce into a case for viewing the world with the
same generosity and clear-eyed attention as Saunders does even in the most absurd of
circumstances. ____________ 'The only way to experience Saunders's oblique farcical tragic
world is to dive right in. It will take the top of your head off but it's worth it' The Times
'The world's best short story writer . Liberation Day is great art' Daily Telegraph
