3.5
Tenth of December
ByPublisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST FICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY AND BUZZFEED • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: People, The New York Times Magazine, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, New York, The Telegraph, BuzzFeed, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, Shelf Awareness
Includes an extended conversation with David Sedaris
One of the most important and blazingly original writers of his generation, George Saunders is an undisputed master of the short story, and Tenth of December is his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet.
In the taut opener, “Victory Lap,” a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In “Home,” a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned. And in the title story, a stunning meditation on imagination, memory, and loss, a middle-aged cancer patient walks into the woods to commit suicide, only to encounter a troubled young boy who, over the course of a fateful morning, gives the dying man a final chance to recall who he really is. A hapless, deluded owner of an antiques store; two mothers struggling to do the right thing; a teenage girl whose idealism is challenged by a brutal brush with reality; a man tormented by a series of pharmaceutical experiments that force him to lust, to love, to kill—the unforgettable characters that populate the pages of Tenth of December are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders’s signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation.
Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience. These stories take on the big questions and explore the fault lines of our own morality, delving into the questions of what makes us good and what makes us human.
Unsettling, insightful, and hilarious, the stories in Tenth of December—through their manic energy, their focus on what is redeemable in human beings, and their generosity of spirit—not only entertain and delight; they fulfill Chekhov’s dictum that art should “prepare us for tenderness.”
GEORGE SAUNDERS WAS NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD BY TIME MAGAZINE
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: People, The New York Times Magazine, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, New York, The Telegraph, BuzzFeed, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage, Shelf Awareness
Includes an extended conversation with David Sedaris
One of the most important and blazingly original writers of his generation, George Saunders is an undisputed master of the short story, and Tenth of December is his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet.
In the taut opener, “Victory Lap,” a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In “Home,” a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned. And in the title story, a stunning meditation on imagination, memory, and loss, a middle-aged cancer patient walks into the woods to commit suicide, only to encounter a troubled young boy who, over the course of a fateful morning, gives the dying man a final chance to recall who he really is. A hapless, deluded owner of an antiques store; two mothers struggling to do the right thing; a teenage girl whose idealism is challenged by a brutal brush with reality; a man tormented by a series of pharmaceutical experiments that force him to lust, to love, to kill—the unforgettable characters that populate the pages of Tenth of December are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders’s signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation.
Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience. These stories take on the big questions and explore the fault lines of our own morality, delving into the questions of what makes us good and what makes us human.
Unsettling, insightful, and hilarious, the stories in Tenth of December—through their manic energy, their focus on what is redeemable in human beings, and their generosity of spirit—not only entertain and delight; they fulfill Chekhov’s dictum that art should “prepare us for tenderness.”
GEORGE SAUNDERS WAS NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD BY TIME MAGAZINE
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesTenth of December Reviews
3.5
Lacy Lee Reads
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“In this short story collection, George gives us a variety of lengths, styles, and tones. We change genres and experience a variety of emotions throughout the book.
It contains quite the variety of stories and it will make you laugh, ponder, be angry and disgusted, and lets you see life through many different points of view. This is such an interesting collection! It's not like he wrote a poetry book and it's just love poems. It is really eclectic!
💥 Below, I've written a few words on my thoughts for each story. I don't think this spoils any plots, but if you want to read the book for the joy of not knowing what's going to come next - don't read anymore!! 🤪
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Victory Lap - Amazing! 26 page thriller with multiple 1st person POVs. What a first story to pull you in! One of my favs.
Sticks - Shortest Story. Sad. Moving. Contemplative
Puppy - Depressing. Mother put between a rock and a hard place.
Escape from Spiderhead - Dark. Contemplative. I'd describe this as sci-fi. One of my favs.
Exhortation - Bleh. Who cares.
Al Roosten - Do we like Al? Do we not like Al? I was very apathetic by the end of this one.
The Semplica Girl Diaries - Insane! I'd describe this as a creepy dystopia. One of my favs in an Ew! Kind of way.
Home - Meh. Boring.
My Chivalric Fiasco - Fun! Hilarious in a - well I'm glad this wasn't me, but I'm so glad I got to watch this happen - kind of way. One of my favs.
Tenth of December - Predictable & Confusing. Not sure why he decided this one should be the title.
If you like quick reads or eclectic collections you may like this book.
Triggers: Death, Suicide, Abuse, Violence
Fav Quotes:
- Ha ha! Must keep spirits up. Laughter best medicine etc., etc. Someday, I'm sure, dreams will come true. But when? Why not now? Why not?
- Based on my experience of life, which I have not exactly hit out of the park, I tend to agree with that thing about, If it's not broke, don't fix it. And would go even further, to: Even if it is broke, leave it alone, you'll probably make it worse.”
Blake
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Lachie Lumber
Created 19 days agoShare
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About George Saunders
MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellow George Saunders is the acclaimed author of several collections of short stories, including Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, as well as a collection of essays and a book for children. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.
Other books by George Saunders
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