Tenth of December

Description

WINNER OF THE 2014 FOLIO PRIZE AND SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2013 George Saunders's most wryly hilarious and disturbing collection yet, Tenth of December illuminates human experience and explores figures lost in a labyrinth of troubling preoccupations. A family member recollects a backyard pole dressed for all occasions; Jeff faces horrifying ultimatums and the prospect of DarkenfloxxTM in some unusual drug trials; and Al Roosten hides his own internal monologue behind a winning smile that he hopes will make him popular. With dark visions of the future riffing against ghosts of the past and the ever-settling present, this collection sings with astonishing charm and intensity.

George Saunders is the author of nine books, including the No. 1 New York Times bestselling novel Lincoln in the Bardo and the New York Times bestselling Tenth of December, which won the Folio Prize 2014 and was a finalist for the National Book Award 2013. He has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, the PEN/Malamud Prize for excellence in the short story, and in 2013 was listed by Time as one of the world's 100 Most Influential People. He teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Syracuse University. georgesaundersbooks.com

The best book you'll read this year * New York Times * Dazzlingly surreal stories about a failing America * Sunday Times * The best short story writer in English - not "one of", not "arguably", but the Best * Time Magazine * Riotously imaginative ... From one of the few living masters of the genre -- Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph * If you're a fan of dark, disturbing and satirical, George Saunders is your ideal travel companion -- Summer Reads * Daily Mail * Funny, poignant - in flashes, deeply moving - light as a feather and consistently weird -- Hari Kunzru * Guardian *