George Saunders is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ten books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Man Booker Prize; Congratulations, by the way; Tenth of December, a finalist for the National Book Award; The Braindead Megaphone; and the critically acclaimed short story collections CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, and In Persuasion Nation. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.
“Saunders is a gentle giant in American letters whose fiction
frequently champions the downtrodden and satirizes a society rife
with economic inequality. . . . [A Swim in a Pond in
the Rain is] an analysis of classic Russian fiction that doubles as
an introductory seminar on the mechanics of short stories—namely,
how do they work and why? . . . Why does fiction
matter now? The answer, Saunders finds, lies in understanding
reading to be a kind of life skill—for understanding our position
in the world, for arbitrating truth.”—The Wall Street Journal
“This book is a delight, and it’s about delight
too. . . . [A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is] very
different from just another ‘how to’ creative writing manual, or
just another critical essay. . . . One of the
pleasures of this book is feeling [Saunders’s] own thinking move
backwards and forwards, between the writer dissecting practice and
the reader entering in through the spell of the words, to dwell
inside the story.”—The Guardian
“Saunders discusses each story’s structure, energy flow, the
questions it raises, and how “meaning is made,” embracing both
technical finesse and the mysteries at creation’s
core. . . . An invaluable and uniquely pleasurable
master course and a generous celebration of reading, writing, and
all the ways literature enriches our lives.”—Booklist (starred
review)
“A master of contemporary fiction joyously assesses some of the
best of the nineteenth century.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[A] true gift to writers and serious readers . . .
With infectious enthusiasm and generosity of spirit, Saunders
delves into seven stories that he calls the ‘seven fastidiously
constructed scale models of the world.’ . . . While
the genesis of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain can be found in the
creative writing classroom—and writers at any level of their
careers will glean priceless pearls from nearly every page—the
genius of Saunders’s book, and his clear intention in offering it
up, is to elucidate literature for the engaged reader, deepening
the reading experience. It is also a blueprint for a greater
engagement with humanity.”—BookPage
“Superb mix of instruction and literary
criticism . . . Saunders’s generous teachings—and
the classics they’re based on—are sure to please.”—Publishers
Weekly (starred review)
“The subtitle to this exhilarating and erudite work of non-fiction
by the Booker Prizewinning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and
Tenth of December is: “In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class
on Writing, Reading, and Life.” In it, one of the greatest short
story writers of our time draws on his own love of Chekhov,
Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol—and on his joy in teaching them to his
MFA students at Syracuse University. The result is a worship song
to writers and readers.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
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