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CivilWarLand in Bad Decline

Stories and a Novella

George Saunders

Ages 16+

231 pages · Released Nov 27, 2012

Content report card

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline parent’s guide: what’s inside

Medium confidence

Violence

LGBTQ+ themes

What it offers

A note for parents

This is a collection of dark, satirical literary fiction for adult audiences, not children. While not graphically violent, the stories contain mature themes, existential dread, and sophisticated social commentary that require adult perspective to appreciate. The language includes profanity, and the overall tone is bleak and unsettling rather than uplifting. This is best suited for high school seniors and adults, not younger readers.

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From the publisher

Since its publication in 1996, George Saunders’s debut collection has grown in esteem from a cherished cult classic to a masterpiece of the form, inspiring an entire generation of writers along the way. In six stories and a novella, Saunders hatches an unforgettable cast of characters, each struggling to survive in an... Since its publication in 1996, George Saunders’s debut collection has grown in esteem from a cherished cult classic to a masterpiece of the form, inspiring an entire generation of writers along the way. In six stories and a novella, Saunders hatches an unforgettable cast of characters, each struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world. With a new introduction by Joshua Ferris and a new author’s note by Saunders himself, this edition is essential reading for those seeking to discover or revisit a virtuosic, disturbingly prescient voice. Praise for George Saunders and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline “It’s no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal “Saunders’s satiric vision of America is dark and demented; it’s also ferocious and very funny.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “George Saunders is a writer of arresting brilliance and originality, with a sure sense of his material and apparently inexhaustible resources of voice. [CivilWarLand in Bad Decline] is scary, hilarious, and unforgettable.”—Tobias Wolff “Saunders makes the all-but-impossible look effortless.”—Jonathan Franzen “Not since Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.”—Zadie Smith “An astoundingly tuned voice—graceful, dark, authentic, and funny—telling just the kinds of stories we need to get us through these times.”—Thomas Pynchon

Shelved under

  • Fiction
  • American literature
  • literary fiction
  • 20th century fiction
  • American Short stories
  • Fiction, short stories (single author)
  • United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865
  • Fiction, general
  • United states, fiction

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ISBN 9780307822222 · Random House

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