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32 George Saunders (1958–)

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Handbook of the American Short Story
This chapter is in the book Handbook of the American Short Story

Abstract

Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential writers of short fiction working in the United States today, George Saunders’s reputation to date has been built on the critical and popular success of four collections of short stories published between 1996 and 2013: CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996), Pastoralia (2000), In Persuasion Nation (2006), and Tenth of December (2013). In this chapter Saunders’s development is contextualized in relation to “post-postmodern” writers such as David Foster Wallace, with whom he shared a desire to create a new kind of fiction that would be technically accomplished but, at the same time, would engage meaningfully with readers. Focusing on Saunders’s stories “Sea Oak” (from Pastoralia) and “The Semplica Girl Diaries” (from Tenth of December), the essay will examine the technical achievement of Saunders’s work while also recognizing some of the ethical and political challenges it presents to readers of short fiction in the early twenty-first century.

Abstract

Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential writers of short fiction working in the United States today, George Saunders’s reputation to date has been built on the critical and popular success of four collections of short stories published between 1996 and 2013: CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996), Pastoralia (2000), In Persuasion Nation (2006), and Tenth of December (2013). In this chapter Saunders’s development is contextualized in relation to “post-postmodern” writers such as David Foster Wallace, with whom he shared a desire to create a new kind of fiction that would be technically accomplished but, at the same time, would engage meaningfully with readers. Focusing on Saunders’s stories “Sea Oak” (from Pastoralia) and “The Semplica Girl Diaries” (from Tenth of December), the essay will examine the technical achievement of Saunders’s work while also recognizing some of the ethical and political challenges it presents to readers of short fiction in the early twenty-first century.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110587647-033

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
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