August 22, 2022
Booker winner Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo) returns to the short form with a wide-ranging collection that alternates his familiar fun house of warped simulations with subtler dramas. In “Ghoul,” actors playing demons at an Inferno-esque attraction called “Maws of Hell” succumb to workplace rivalries under the watchful eye of their managers. “Love Letter,” set in a Trumpist dystopia where “loyalists” report dissenters for infractions, takes the form of a man’s cautionary letter to his defiant grandson. The title story imagines a sinister company whose employees, little more than programs, are forced to recreate Custer’s last stand. Other stories probe loss, regret, and hopefulness. “The Mom of Bold Action” follows a frustrated writer and housewife facing turmoil when her son is attacked by at least one of two identical old creeps. “Mother’s Day” explores the inner life of a once feisty elderly woman now living at a remove from the world after her daughter runs away from home. “Elliot Spencer” combines futurism and pathos as a mind-wiped counterprotester suddenly recovers his identity. Saunders’s four previous collections shook the earth a bit harder, but he continues to humanize those whom society has worn down to a nub. Despite the author’s shift to quieter character studies, there’s plenty to satisfy longtime devotees.
June 10, 2024
Booker Prize winner Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo) returns with astute observations about poverty, inequality, power, class, exploitation, revenge, relationships, love, and disappointment. An all-star cast of narrators including Saunders himself, Tina Fey, Michael McKean, Edi Patterson, Jenny Slate, Jack McBrayer, Melora Hardin, and Stephen Root breathe magic into these nine stories. The varied narrators help listeners shift gears, moving from the stories of marginalized employees forced to entertain the rich with a musical of Custer's last stand, to an overprotective mom seeking revenge for a slight against her son, and ending with the man who desperately wants to sell his house to the right buyer but just can't close the deal. Each narrator is perfect for the story they perform as they boost the content and let Saunders's mastery of satire shine. Ranging from sci-fi to realistic present-day settings, the scope of this work goes from weird to wonderful. VERDICT There is a reason Saunders is often cited as one of the finest short-story writers working today. Each story in this collection has the potential to be an all-time favorite, and the addition of superstar narrators makes this an essential purchase for all public libraries.--Christa Van Herreweghe
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