George Saunders – CGW's Blog

Vigil by George Saunders

What might the chief architect of the oil and gas industry think about on his deathbed, as the effects of climate change only worsen and his lobbying prove even more effective?

That’s the setup of Vigil, the new satirical novel by George Saunders, the celebrated American writer. It’s a magical device to explore regret, comfort and legacy.

A few friends and I have admired and followed George for close to 20 years. We’ve discussed his short stories, attended his talks bought his collections and more recently his longer works. He helped me understand what writing can be.

Those friends and I were divided on Vigil. Two friends feel he’s narrowed too much into one voice that came from his short stories, into Lincoln in the Bardo and returned for this one. In contrast, I view this as a defining style — the incomplete sentences, particular pacing and sparing coarse language and themes — and I love it. I found it comforting, and thought-provoking, visual and world-making.

I always remember George talking about how every writer “climbs the mountain” of another writer’s voice, before finding their own. He’s done it, and I’m on a lifelong journey to do the same.

Below, I have a few notes I wrote down memorably from the book for my future reference.

Lessons on writing from four Russian masters (and George Saunders)

We live our life letting only some instruments in the orchestra play, so when we write fiction we can explore the rest. To create great fiction, we must emphatically pursue our “radical preference,” and remove everything else

Few do it as well as the greats from a 75-year period of Russian masters. So argues George Saunders, today’s most celebrated American fiction writer and a well-regarded writing professor, in his 2021 book: “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life.”

He shares stories from four greats and intersperses his notes, based on a course he teaches. It’s approachable and generous. Below I share my notes for future reference.

Craft in the Real World: advice on writing and workshop from Matthew Salesses

Write for the audience whose expectations you want to meet — not an imagined audience you’ve been taught is the standard.

That’s among the the top-level themes of Craft in the Real World, the 2021 book by celebrated fiction author and novelist Matthew Salesses. It challenges many norms of the American-style writer workshop that was largely first established at Iowa University, where the first Masters in Fine Arts writing program emerged. The book is rich with general criticism, tactical advice for modernizing writer workshops (many of which I’ve incorporated into my own) and even fresh looks at foundational elements of writing (ie. what exactly is plot?).

I introduced many of Matthew’s points on making a more effective writers workshop to my own workshop. I also appreciated his general contribution to our collective goals for great writing. I recommend the book to anyone in workshop or interested in writing process. Below I share my notes for me to return to in the future.

Drinks with George Saunders

After enjoying hearing him and Jonathan Dee give readings of their latest work and take questions from the Free Library audience, I was honored to spend a couple hours with a few friends drinking with acclaimed fiction writer George Saunders in the Lowes hotel bar in Center City Philadelphia.