The Oxford American

If you haven't discovered the Oxford American magazine yet (its annual music issue is essential reading) here's a link to a recent essay by John Jeremiah Sullivan that will give you an example of the quality of writing that it represents : http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2014/feb/18/chop-upbeat/.

Book of the Week : Tenth of December by George Saunders (Bloomsbury pbk)

Long-time New Yorker readers will be well-familiar with the stories of George Saunders and his black-humoured dystopian take on a near-future America and, by natural extension, the rest of the modern world. If the worlds that Saunders writes about are fairly scary in their creeping idiocy and totalitarianism his characters are nevertheless recognisably human and essentially good people, battling against seemingly impossible odds to maintain their dignity and optimism. His stories are also very, very funny. The Tenth of December is not his first collection of short stories but it may well be his best. There are ten pieces here, the pick of which for me are The Semplica Girl Diaries and My Chivalric Fiasco. They are not always a straightforward read as, without way of introduction to the world you are about to read about, Saunders often jumps straight into a situation and narrative that only becomes comprehensible and often chillingly recognizable after a few pages. I have to admit that I had to read the title story twice before I had a clue as to what was going on. No hardship though. I can imagine reading the whole book again before too long and hope that Mr.Saunders keeps writing stories of this quality for some time to come.

Other George Saunders books :

Civilwarland In Bad Decline

Pastoralia

The Brain-Dead Megaphone

In Persuasion Nation

The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil