CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, George Saunders
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, George Saunders
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CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
Stories and a Novella

Author: George Saunders

Narrator: George Saunders, Joshua Ferris

Unabridged: 5 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/23/2019

Synopsis

Since its publication in 1996, George Saunders’s debut collection has grown in esteem from a cherished cult classic to a masterpiece of the form, inspiring an entire generation of writers along the way. In six stories and a novella, Saunders hatches an unforgettable cast of characters, each struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world. With a new introduction by Joshua Ferris and a new author’s note by Saunders himself, this edition is essential reading for those seeking to discover or revisit a virtuosic, disturbingly prescient voice.
 
Praise for George Saunders and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
 
“It’s no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Saunders’s satiric vision of America is dark and demented; it’s also ferocious and very funny.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“George Saunders is a writer of arresting brilliance and originality, with a sure sense of his material and apparently inexhaustible resources of voice. [CivilWarLand in Bad Decline] is scary, hilarious, and unforgettable.”—Tobias Wolff
 
“Saunders makes the all-but-impossible look effortless.”—Jonathan Franzen
 
“Not since Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.”—Zadie Smith
 
“An astoundingly tuned voice—graceful, dark, authentic, and funny—telling just the kinds of stories we need to get us through these times.”—Thomas Pynchon

About The Author

George Saunders is the author of Lincoln in the Bardo; Tenth of December; In Persuasion Nation; The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil; Pastoralia; CivilWarLand in Bad Decline; The Braindead Megaphone; and a children's book, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip. His work appears regularly in the New Yorker, Harper's and GQ. In 2006, he was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." In 2000, The New Yorker named him one of the "Best Writers Under 40."  He is a 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction. He teaches at Syracuse University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Vit on June 13, 2022

Using lavish grotesque and generously mocking political correctness and hypocrisy George Saunders thrashes everyday life to pitiful trash, reducing the States to the ridiculous dystopia of dark ages. That night I sleep a troubled sleep beside a fetid stream. I dream of Limbo, a tiny room full of dull......more

Goodreads review by s.penkevich on March 07, 2013

‘What a degraded cosmos.’ We live in a world where cruelty towards others is becoming more and more accepted – how easy we rationalize our self-righteous anger against someone who cut us off, brought us an undercooked meal, said something stupid, etc., and even seen as funny. Saunders, like the ghost......more

Goodreads review by Paul on June 30, 2015

I already knew & liked the title track so I skipped to the big novella "Bounty" and thought hello hello this is like a Motown follow-up where say "Reach Out I’ll be There" was followed up by "Standing in the Shadows of Love" which is like the same song tweaked a bit (but still great) or "I Can’t Hel......more

Goodreads review by Ian on July 25, 2015

Welcome to the Occupation The whole way through George Saunders' first collection of short stories, there are suggestions that the world is not as it should be. Imagine a world like this, totally unlike our own: The characters and narrators are (or are surrounded by) kooks and wackos. People have names......more

Quotes

Praise for George Saunders and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline

“It’s no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Saunders’s satiric vision of America is dark and demented; it’s also ferocious and very funny.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“George Saunders is a writer of arresting brilliance and originality, with a sure sense of his material and apparently inexhaustible resources of voice. [CivilWarLand in Bad Decline] is scary, hilarious, and unforgettable.”—Tobias Wolff
 
“Saunders makes the all-but-impossible look effortless.”—Jonathan Franzen
 
“Not since Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.”—Zadie Smith
 
“An astoundingly tuned voice—graceful, dark, authentic, and funny—telling just the kinds of stories we need to get us through these times.”—Thomas Pynchon

Awards

  • PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Novel
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