Scala Radio Book Club: Liberation Day by George Saunders
A new short story collection by Booker Prize-winning, New York Times-bestselling author
Last updated 21st Oct 2022
On Thursday 20th October, Mark Forrest welcomed Booker Prize-winning, New York Times-bestselling author George Saunders into the Scala Radio Book Club, to discuss his short story collection Liberation Day.
With his trademark prose - wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned - Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.
'Love Letter' is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson, in the midst of a dystopian political situation in the not-too-distant future, that reminds us of our obligations to our ideals, ourselves, and each other. 'Ghoul' is set in a Hell-themed section of an underground amusement park in Colorado, and follows the exploits of a lonely, morally complex character named Brian, who comes to question everything he takes for granted about his 'reality.' In 'Mother's Day', two women who loved the same man come to an existential reckoning in the middle of a hailstorm. And in 'Elliott Spencer', our eighty-nine-year-old protagonist finds himself brainwashed - his memory 'scraped' - a victim of a scheme in which poor, vulnerable people are reprogrammed and deployed as political protesters.
Together, these nine subversive, profound, and essential stories coalesce into a case for viewing the world with the same generosity and clear-eyed attention as Saunders does, even in the most absurd of circumstances.
Mark began the interview by asking, ‘As an author of short stories and a novel, how do you know when an idea is going to work better and engage the reader more as a shorter story or a longer one?’
‘The truth is, you don’t!’ said George. ‘As I’m editing the story, I really have to get a feel for it’s DNA. I speak to it and say “okay, I’m your friend, don’t be afraid. How long would you like to be? If you want to be two pages, I’m here for you. If you want to be two hundred, I’m here for you.” It sounds a little strange, but a conversation between you and the story really works. It’s an interesting practice as a person because if you start out in writing, thinking that your job is to be this all-intelligent bombastic wizard, that doesn’t work. Nobody wants to hear that guy! They want to hear someone who’s interested in them.’
Mark said, ‘You won the Booker Prize for your first, and so-far only novel Lincoln in the Bardo. The fans do want another novel. Are they going to have to have wait much longer for a full-length one?’
‘I don’t know. I would like to write one too,’ said George. ‘It was such a fun and immersive experience. Part of my artistic stance is that the more I try and control the artist in me, the unluckier I am. So, I’ll come home from the tour later this year, and then I’ll start thinking what would be fun to do next. I’m just going to come home and sit at this desk and see what develops over the weeks or months.’
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