Description

‘Saunders is an astoundingly tuned voice – graceful, dark, authentic and funny – telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times’ Thomas Pynchon

In PASTORALIA elements of contemporary life are twisted, merged and amplified into a slightly skewed version of modern America. A couple live and work in a caveman theme-park, where speaking is an instantly punishable offence. A born loser attends a self-help seminar where he is encouraged to rid himself of all the people who are ‘crapping in your oatmeal’. And a male exotic dancer and his family are terrorised by their decomposing aunt who visits them with a solemn message from beyond the grave. With an uncanny combination of deadpan naturalism and uproarious humour, George Saunders creates a world that is both indelibly original and yet hauntingly familiar …

Publisher Review

Saunders is an astoundingly tuned voice - graceful, dark, authentic and funny - telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times -- Thomas Pynchon So spot on that you have to stop every now and again to sigh with delight ... this stuff is gold dust ... fiercely inventive, unforgettably funny and sentimental in all the right places Independent on Sunday Bitterly funny ... Saunders' satirical jabs are sharp and scary, but also sad and unexpectedly touching Guardian Saunders is a provocateur, a moralist, a zealot, a lefty, and a funny, funny writer, and the stories in Pastoralia delight. We're very luck to have them Esquire Artful and sophisicated ... Truly unusual. Imagine Lewis's Babbitt thrown into the backseat of a car going cross-country, driven by R. Crumb, Matt Groening, Lynda Barry, Harvey Pekar, or Spike Jonze New York Times