u003cbu003eu003cbu003eu003ciu003eNEW YORK TIMESu003c/iu003e BESTSELLER •u003c/bu003e NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • u003cbu003eNAMED ONE OF u003ciu003eTIME’Su003c/iu003e TEN BEST FICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE •u003c/bu003e NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY u003ciu003eENTERTAINMENT WEEKLYu003c/iu003e AND u003ciu003eBUZZFEEDu003c/iu003e • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY u003ciu003eTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003cbu003eu003cbu003eNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYu003c/bu003e u003cbu003eu003ciu003ePeople • The New York Times Magazine • u003c/iu003eNPR • u003ciu003eEntertainment Weekly • New York • The Telegraph • BuzzFeed • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage • Shelf Awarenessu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eIncludes an extended conversation with David Sedarisu003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eOne of the most important and blazingly original writers of his generation, George Saunders is an undisputed master of the short story, and u003ciu003eTenth of Decemberu003c/iu003e is his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e 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 u003ciu003eTenth of Decemberu003c/iu003e are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders’s signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e 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.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e Unsettling, insightful, and hilarious, the stories in u003ciu003eTenth of Decemberu003c/iu003e—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.”u003cbu003eu003cbru003eu003c/bu003e u003cbru003e u003cbu003eGEORGE SAUNDERS WAS NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD BY u003ciu003eTIMEu003c/iu003e MAGAZINEu003c/bu003e
