George Saunders's political novella The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil was published by Riverhead Trade Paperbacks in September 2005. He is also the author of Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, both New York Times Notable Books, and The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip, a New York Times children's bestseller. In 2000, The New Yorker named him one of the "Best Writers Under 40." He writes regularly for The New Yorker and Harper's, as well as Esquire, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine. He won a National Magazine Award for Fiction in 2004 and his work is included in Best American Short Stories 2005. He teaches at Syracuse University.
Genres: Literary Fiction, Children's Fiction
Novels
Collections
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996)
Pastoralia (2000)
In Persuasion Nation (2006)
Tenth of December (2013)
Home (2013)
Liberation Day (2022)
Pastoralia (2000)
In Persuasion Nation (2006)
Tenth of December (2013)
Home (2013)
Liberation Day (2022)
Novellas
Chapter Books
Non fiction
The Braindead Megaphone (2007)
Congratulations, By the Way (2014)
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (2021)
Congratulations, By the Way (2014)
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (2021)
Awards
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George Saunders recommends

Dear Mr. President (2002)
Gabe Hudson
"Gabe Hudson writes crazed, energetic stories full of mayhem and heart. This collection summons up a funny, troubling image of America the Invader, clumsily enforcing its will with a high-tech army of narcissists and neurotics."

Florida (2003)
Christine Schutt
"Christine Schutt conveys real truths about childhood and longing. She is truly a gifted writer."

War Trash (2004)
Ha Jin
"Ha Jin is one of the finest writers in America: subtle, huge-hearted, possessed of an utterly original, mind-altering vision of the world, and an exquisite, disciplined style. His work never fails to thrill me, and expand my ideas about life, and about the transformative powers of fiction."

American Youth (2007)
Phil LaMarche
"The most compelling and exciting debut novel in years... LaMarche proves that there are still young geniuses among us."

One of the Boys (2017)
Daniel Magariel
"Brilliant, urgent, darkly funny, heartbreaking-a tour de force."

Wait Till You See Me Dance (2017)
Deb Olin Unferth
"Deb Olin Unferth’s stories are so smart, fast, full of heart, and distinctive in voice - each an intense little thought-system going out earnestly in search of strange new truths. What an important and exciting talent."

Peach (2018)
Emma Glass
"A strange and original work of art that manages to be both genuinely terrifying and undeniably joyful. . . . In this dark poetic myth, Emma Glass takes on the big issues: good and evil, violence, redemption. . . . An immensely talented young writer . . . . Her fearlessness renews one's faith in the power of literature."

The Mars Room (2018)
Rachel Kushner
"Kushner is a young master. I honestly don’t know how she is able to know so much and convey all of this in such a completely entertaining and mesmerizing way."

Goodnight Stranger (2019)
Miciah Bay Gault
"Somewhere the ghosts of Shirley Jackson and the Henry James of The Turn of the Screw are smiling, because a wildly talented young writer has joined their lineage. What a taut, keenly intelligent, and provocative debut Goodnight Stranger is."

The Nickel Boys (2019)
Colson Whitehead
"[Whitehead] is a splendidly talented writer, with more range than any other American novelist currently workinghe can be funny, lyrical, satirical, earnestwhatever is needed by the work."

Days of Distraction (2020)
Alexandra Chang
"Startlingly original and deeply moving.... Chang here establishes herself as one of the most important of the new generation of American writers."

Bubblegum (2020)
Adam Levin
"Adam Levin is one of our wildest writers and our funniest, and Bubblegum is a dazzling accomplishment of wit and inventiveness."

Alien Stories (2021)
E C Osondu
"A vital voice in the short story, telling us new truths with deep humanity."

Afterparties (2021)
Anthony Veasna So
"A wildly energetic, heartfelt, original debut by a young writer of exceptional promise. These stories, powered by So’s skill with the telling detail, are like beams of wry, affectionate light, falling from different directions on a complicated, struggling, beloved American community."

All's Well (2021)
Mona Awad
"A dazzling wild ride of a novel daring, fresh, entertaining, and magical. Mona Awad is a powerful and poetic storyteller, telling us something new and profound here about the connection between suffering and elation. When I was away from this book, I longed to get back to it."
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