“An astoundingly tuned voice, telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times.” Thomas Pynchon
“Not since Mark Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.” Zadie Smith
“George Saunders makes you feel as if you are reading fiction for the first time.” Khaled Hosseini
I could keep going and going with other literary all-stars lining up to praise George Saunders but my favorite quote about George’s writing comes from Ben Marcus in The Believer back in 2004:
“The Suits call his writing ‘stories,’ but they are really soft bodies to wear for a larger experience of life, hollowcore person-shapes that one can slip on in order to attain amazement. Saunders writes bodies, and his readers wear them.”
Yes! That’s how I feel, too. Which is what made it such an immense pleasure to sit down with the humble genius that is George Saunders. Don’t take the genius label from me! He’s won a MacArthur Genius Grant, Guggenheim Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Prize and been named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People.
He won the Man Booker for the mesmerizing otherworldly masterpiece Lincoln in the Bardo, and every time I read his short story collections Pastoralia and Tenth of December they just crack my heart wide open. And, just to extend the literary resume here, his most recent book A Swim in the Pond in the Rain is simply the best book on writing I have ever read. I highly recommend it to all writers.
George Saunders has also been a Professor in Creative Writing at Syracuse University since 1997. Cheryl Strayed, our guest in Chapter 69, is one of hundreds who had George as a teacher and calls him a mentor today.
Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation discussing the computer we are all trapped inside, reading as a life project, how we process reality, practicing Buddhism, the world as a corrective force, delivering payoff, staying grounded, cultivating a love of literature in children, harnessing our shadow selves, quieting mental rumination, aiming our spigots, and much, much more … .
The wisdom of George Saunders offers a true masterclass on writing, on living, on life.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 75 …
What You'll Learn:
How does our brain process reality?
How do writers justify the non-normative and guarantee pay off?
How does death amplify life?
What is efficiency in writing?
How should we stay grounded despite success?
How should we think about kindness?
What can we learn from Buddhism?
How can parents cultivate a love of literature in their kids?
How can we channel our different mental states to be creative?
How does exploring one’s dark side or subconscious impact one’s writing?
How can we learn to live more freely?
Notable quotes from George saunders:
“The reading project is a life project.” George Saunders #3bookspodcast
“You’re inside a temporary phenomenon that has tendencies.” George Saunders #3bookspodcast
“The world is corrective.” George Saunders #3bookspodcast
“You never really fail until you quit.” George Saunders #3bookspodcast
Connect with george:
Word of the chapter:
wordcloud of the chapter:
Resources Mentioned:
George’s first book [44:50]
George’s second book [1:21:05]
George’s third book [1:46:33]
How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett
”Victory Lap” by George Sanders
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by LeoTolstoy
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
“Tent City, USA” by George Saunders
2013 commencement speech on kindness by George Saunders
Parisian Lives by Deirdre Bair
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Distance Home by Paula Saunders
Tenth of December by George Saunders
Writer’s Digest interview with George Saunders
“The Nature of the Fun” by David Foster Wallace
Eulogy for David Foster Wallace by George Saunders
One Friday in April by Donald Antrim
“The Dutchman” song by Mike Smith
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac
