LIBERATION DAY

What can’t George Saunders do?

On the basis of his work since Tenth of December (2013), the answer seems to be nothing at all. The stories in that collection marked a turning point in a career that already seemed remarkable, a deepening of empathy and scope. In the works that followed—the astonishing novel Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) and last year’s A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, which, among other things, may be the greatest craft book ever assembled—Saunders has revealed himself to be nothing less than an American Gogol: funny, pointed, full of nuance, and always writing with a moral heart. This, his first book of short fiction in nearly a decade, only cements the validity of such a point of view. The nine pieces here are smart and funny, speculative yet at the same time written on a human scale, narratives full of love and loss and longing and the necessity of trying to connect. Dedicated readers will recognize five stories from the New Yorker, but they only grow upon rereading, revealing new depths. “Ghoul” recalls Saunders' magnificent CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, taking place in a subterranean amusement park where employees wait for visitors who never come. Brutally punished for the slightest infractions, the narrator, Brian, comes to a radical decision: “Though I will not live to see it,” he tells us, “…may these words play some part in bringing the old world down.” This notion of upheaval, or collapse, also motivates “Elliott Spencer,” about an elderly man reprogrammed to be a crisis actor of sorts in political protests, and “A Thing at Work,” where an escalating office dispute disrupts life outside the workplace. “He had kids. He had a mortgage,” a character reflects about the potential fallout. “This was the real world.” What Saunders is addressing is not just identity, but also responsibility, to each other and to ourselves. This emerges most fully in the title effort, a Severance-like saga set in an alternate reality, where three workers, known as “Speakers”—there are also “Singers”—are indentured to entertain a family.

A tour de force collection that showcases all of Saunders’ many skills.