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Tenth of December: Stories
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Tenth of December: Stories
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Tenth of December: Stories
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Tenth of December: Stories

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
People • The New York Times Magazine • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • New York • The Telegraph • BuzzFeed • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage • Shelf Awareness

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."

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"The best book you'll read this year."-The New York Times Magazine
 
"A feat of inventiveness . . . This eclectic collection never ceases to delight with its at times absurd, surreal, and darkly humorous look at very serious subjects. . . . Saunders makes you feel as though you are reading fiction for the first time."-Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner
 
"The best short-story writer in English-not 'one of,' not 'arguably,' but the Best."-Mary Karr, Time
 
"A visceral and moving act of storytelling . . . No one writes more powerfully than George Saunders about the lost, the unlucky, the disenfranchised."-Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
"Saunders's startling, dreamlike stories leave you feeling newly awakened to the world."-People
 
"It's no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction."-The Wall Street Journal
 
GEORGE SAUNDERS WAS NAMED ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD BY TIME MAGAZINE

From the Hardcover edition.

Editor's Note

Consistently revelatory…

These 10 stories amply prove why George Saunders is the most celebrated short story writer in America. Alternatingly bizarre, heart-rending, and hilarious, Saunders’ voice is utterly unique and consistently revelatory.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 8, 2013
ISBN9780385359740
Unavailable
Tenth of December: Stories

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Reviews for Tenth of December

Rating: 3.9478859476892825 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,017 ratings103 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This short story collection was a miss for me. The stories attempt to be full of humor and satire, while at the same time formulating opinions and perceptions of class related to character, but I did not find them to be conceptually relevant. Overall, a disappointing read. However, I will not give up on Saunders yet.2 stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Two things you need to know to evaluate whether you're gonna like this: 1) this is a collection of short stories and 2) Saunders' style of writing isn't for everyone. Saunders subverts familiar circumstances into something less familiar and less comfortable, while keeping honesty and human truth at the core with a twinge of irony. As such, some of the stories - or rather their themes and observances - poke at you uncomfortably and may even rub you a bit raw - like a tag on clothing you've forgotten to remove before wearing. While these stories aren't inaccessible or dense, they aren't breezy beach faire, either. If you're looking for light, entertaining reading...this probably won't be your thing. Of this collection, my favorites were:- The eponymous Tenth of December which is about a terminally ill man en route to his own suicide rediscovering the will to live, love and be loved, even as his body fails, when he expends all his strength to save a boy from freezing to death.- The Semplica Girl Diaries involve a father who purchases girls from a third world country to use as human lawn ornaments to impress his kids and neighbors. His youngest daughter sets the girls loose and they escape, which turns out to be a crime against the government that greatly endangers the family.- Puppy is about the casual cruelty with which puppies and small children are sometimes treated by those who are supposed to care, love and protect them.But there's really not a bad one in the bunch. A lot of early reviews of Tenth overhyped the collection as 'life altering' and 'mind blowing.' Few if any books can stand up to that kind of puffery and this doesn't either and isn't trying to; however, if you want something with enough fiber to stick in your ribs, give this a try.Also highly recommended if you're looking to sample some Saunders is his graduation speech - congratulations by the way (which I love and which is good for anyone entering or closing a season of life...or just thinking about it), as well as Lincoln in the Bardo, which is a novel about Abraham Lincoln being haunted (literally and figuratively) by the childhood death of his son Willie.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Let me start by saying that I did not finish this book. But it was so painful to read the first few stories that I am counting it as a book read. George Saunders is considered a master of the short story by many. Not me. If your definition of mastery is coming up with irritating style quirks and topics that no one else would want to write about (let alone read about), then I guess he is a master.I did not finish the first story, which is about a fantasizing teenager. The overwrought, self-conscious style was just too annoying. The second story, which covered two pages, was about a mean-spirited man whose only joy was dressing two crossed poles in front of the house for the appropriate season. In the end he dies, a young couple buys his house, and the poles are put out in the trash. The end.It was the third story that did me in. The main character is a woman with two spoiled children and a sicko husband. She is in the habit of bringing home small animals offered to good homes--so that her husband can kill them. A ferret, an iguana, a whole litter of kittens, and now she is considering a puppy. Maybe I'm living in a fantasy world myself, but I do not want to read about people that torture and kill defenseless animals and the people that enable him. That is just SICK!!!I will not finish this book, and I will never read anything written by George Saunders again.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have mixed reactions to Saunders’ writing. First, can anyone live up to the ridiculous level of praise from the blurbs on the cover of this trade paperback edition? That come from everywhere, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Khaled Hosseini? Is Saunders that good a writer? I’m forced to say “no.” Not that he isn’t always interesting. At his best, such as in the title story, he weaves together events in a way that end up telling us a lot about human nature, the human spirit, and ultimately ourselves, since if fiction doesn’t have some effect on the reader, even in a totally vicarious way, I think it fails. Another story that passes this test is “Victory Lap.” But often, as in “The Semplica Girl Diaries” and at least half of the other stories in this volume, there is an artificiality that is just annoying. You just want to shout at the author, “Can’t you just tell the story without fritzing around so much?” Sometimes, Saunders manages to ultimately succeed even when he is doing a lot of fritzing around, such as in the dystopian “Escape from Spiderhead.” One thing I must give him credit for is his imagination. Reading this collection, you don’t ever fall into a sense of monotony, seeing story after story proceed down the same path. But like his other collection I read, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, I just can’t fully embrace his style. Recently, I read Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son. The experience, compared to reading Saunders, is remarkably different. With Johnson, it is total immersion. It is a shorter book that compels you to read it in one sitting. It is never boring or annoying. While I didn’t give it a perfect review, it is certainly more of my model for great short story writing. Or Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. Near-perfect writing that never calls undue attention to itself or gets in the way of the story. Clearly, this just isn’t the type of writer Saunders is. The back of this edition includes a very interesting interview with Saunders conducted by David Sedaris (who joins the bandwagon of praising Saunders to the sky). It is clear that Saunders intentions are the best, and in some stories he achieves them. But if he is to be held up as the standard of the short story, it doesn’t speak too well of the state of the critical art.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    screwed me up.
    in a good way, I think.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not as earth-shattering as the reviews had lead me to believe. The stories are could just as easily have fitted into one of his earlier collections. That's not a criticism, as I love Saunders's short stories, but the hype made me think this collection would display the author's evolution. It was more of the same.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A couple of these stories reminded me very much of Flowers for Algernon. Did you guys all have to read that back in eighth grade, too? In any case, that's one of my favorite stories of all time, so I loved the fact that these seemed to be paying it a bit of homage. At the same time, though, having that story so strongly in my head made my favorites here seem a bit derivative. That, coupled with the fact that the longest story was probably my least favorite, is why I felt, in the end, that four stars was a more accurate rating than five. Still, I really enjoyed this book and it was a quick satisfying read. Highly recommend.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Intricately constructed to the extent of obscuring characterization but fascinating nonetheless. Several of the stories will stick in my mind for quite awhile. Found it impossible to read more than one in an evening. On the other hand, much of it seemed quirky for quirk's sake. Would have preferred straight scifi than this somewhat awkward mix of imagination, odd structure, and remarkably unpleasant people and outcomes.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Emotionally manipulative, riveting, though somewhat limited. The same characters and themes keep coming up in only slightly different guises, though they're always funny and gut-wrenching and wonderful.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Short stories. The most memorable one is The Semplica-Girl Diaries, a tragicomic story of a short-sighted couple making a mess of things. Key ingredients of that story are the eponymous (human) Semplica-girls. Funny and serious. Recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I do not think I have ever read another volume of short stories more consistently compelling than this. It confirms the power and relevance of the short story in contemporary literature. Saunders belongs with the likes of Alice Munro as one of the very few genuine masters of the form.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is likely my favorite collection of stories ever. It turns out I read each one along the way as they appeared in the new Yorker but in spite of laughing and crying and wondering at each one, I didn't bother to buy the author's books. A friend recommended this book to me, and then I was tickled to remember each story in the collection like meeting an old friend at a party, years later, and reminiscing about old times. That said, I haven't read his other books, and I fear I will love the others just as much, rendering this book as just one of my favorite books ever.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am usually not a lover of the short story, unless of course Poe was the scribe, but I really enjoyed this collection. I especially enjoyed the title story, 'Tenth of December' and the opening story, 'Victory Lap', maybe because they were the two stories that were a bit more cheery!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It's as good as you've been told it is.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Star rating isn't a reflection of the writing quality, but rather a reflection of how I felt about reading this. I can see why people love Saunders, but I didn't care for this at all. (My favorite piece was probably the title piece, which is also the last story in the collection.) He's adept at taking on a wide variety of voices and making them all work, although on occasion I found the writing to be too clever. The stories in here seem to me a much more honest dystopia.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Book DescriptionOne 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."My ReviewAfter reading this book, I must say that satirical fiction is not for me. I found this book very difficult to read. The words did not flow and I really was not interested in what the author was trying to relate. There are a lot of good reviews for this book so some people did benefit from reading it. Not sure if I could honestly recommend it as I wouldn't want to put anyone else through the pain it was for me to read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing and weird.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Man, this was good. Bleak, dark, depressing - so very human - and so damn good.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tenth of December: Stories is a thought-provoking collection of stories by George Saunders. These stories will make you sad, surprised, perhaps even a bit angry; all of these are good ways to respond to such stories.These are not for readers who simply want a short story that begins and ends, leaving little behind but the aftertaste of a good story. Those kinds of stories are wonderful also but this ain't them! These should make you want to stop and think. You should fill in some gaps with your own interpretations of what is being said. These stories have a beginning and end but there is less of an aftertaste and more of a dessert when you reflect on these stories. I also noticed a couple of reviewers completely misread (as in somehow got confused about which character killed and which didn't, not as in simply a different interpretation) so I guess if you find you are put off by a story wait before reading the next or you're likely to interject your own distaste into the next story and completely misread. These stories don't lend themselves to skimming, you will miss key transitions and details.I am not implying a hierarchical idea of what types of stories or readers are involved here, simply in different tastes and expectations. Many readers want there to be no input from their imagination to complete the story, even stories that stay with them and carry great weight. Those readers will likely be frustrated here unless they don't mind periodically reading these types of stories, in which case I think you will be pleased. I shared one of the stories in the collection with a couple friends of mine and we all came away with the same general feeling but quite different interpretations. Where I saw someone who struggled to communicate yet felt remorse for not doing better, someone else saw a bitter person through and through and the other saw someone who changed from something just short of bitter to someone remorseful. We all felt a general feeling of melancholy, so I would say it worked well.I would also recommend reading this less like a short book that can technically be read in a couple hours and more like a book of essays or a nonfiction book that might require slower and more careful reading interspersed with time to digest each morsel. While I don't read as many of these kinds of books as I used to I find that they often stay with me the longest.Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Most of the stories were good, just not great. Just something missing that I cannotput a finger on. I liked the title story best.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Saunders is a genius.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    "Sometimes science sucks"
    Guy is in prison and being experimented on by a pharmaceutical development company. Neither the crime the guy was sentenced for, nor the nature of the experiments themselves, are very convincing.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I was looking forward to reading this book after hearing an interview with the author on one of the late night talk shows. I clearly didn't get it. I felt like I should have been on drugs while reading it, as it was very bizarre. The prose was difficult for me to follow. Some of the stories were OK, but as a whole, not for me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Just a bit too much "style" for my taste. Fine writing, somewhat interesting, started skipping immediately.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Dystopian stories with hearts of gold. Saunders has an uncanny ability to transcribe those weird, only partly formed little thoughts we have and weave them into powerful, and funny, narratives. A unique book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lovely short stories
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enjoyed some of these stories ire than others, but they were all crafted well of course…enjoy his writing on writing more than his writing? Hah!!
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I only read this short story collection for my book club. It was extremely disturbing and not my cup of tea.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Saunders' stories are so original with interesting characters confronted with a moral problem. My Jesuit friend looks for movies in which the characters struggle with an ethical problem and move, sometimes in a roundabout way, to redemption. The characters in these stories remind me of this way of "seeing." Notable in the collection are the title story, Tenth of December, and Escape from Spiderhead. But all are of high quality.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This is a popular and well thought of book. Go figure.