George Saunders's ghost stories aren't just about the supernatural; they're also about confronting our mortality and the world around us. In his new novel Vigil, an oil tycoon who has spent his life covering up climate change is visited by a host of spirits on his deathbed, forcing him to grapple with his legacy.
Saunders finds ghost stories fascinating because they offer a unique way of telling truth about our moment in time. "If you were really trying to tell the truth about this moment, would you so confidently narrow it to just today?" he asks. Ghosts allow us to step into each other's minds and experience empathy in a more direct way.
For Saunders, death has always been a topic of interest, and as we get older, it becomes more real and close. His own brush with mortality, when his plane was hit by geese shortly after takeoff from Chicago, left him shaken but also profoundly changed. He recalls that the teenage boy next to him asked if this was supposed to be happening, and he replied confidently that it was, which has stuck with him ever since.
Saunders's writing often explores the intersection of our individual experiences and the world around us. His novel Lincoln in the Bardo won the Booker prize in 2017, and Vigil is a ghost story about an oil tycoon who must confront his past actions on his deathbed. The ghosts that visit him force him to grapple with his legacy and consider the impact of his actions.
Saunders's own experiences have shaped his writing style and themes. He grew up in Oak Forest, south Chicago, and was raised by a coal company executive father who later owned a fried-chicken franchise called Chicken Unlimited. He met his wife Paula Redick at Syracuse University, where they both studied creative writing, and began teaching there after completing his MFA.
As a writer, Saunders is committed to exploring complex moral questions through humor and satire. His stories often feature fantastical worlds that critique American society, and he holds the belief that literature can make us better people by requiring writers and readers to transcend themselves and their coarser instincts.
Saunders has also been running his Story Club Substack since 2021, which discusses craft and features comments from over 315,000 subscribers. He finds the non-internet aspect of these conversations reassuring, as they are often filled with kindness and generosity. Despite feeling "yucky" when discussing politics, particularly about Trump's authoritarianism, Saunders believes that writing fiction can help him consider multiple perspectives and become a more interesting person.
Ultimately, Saunders sees his role as a writer as one of creating fictive worlds that improve our thought and compassion. By exploring complex moral questions through humor and satire, he hopes to encourage readers to think differently about the world around them.
Saunders finds ghost stories fascinating because they offer a unique way of telling truth about our moment in time. "If you were really trying to tell the truth about this moment, would you so confidently narrow it to just today?" he asks. Ghosts allow us to step into each other's minds and experience empathy in a more direct way.
For Saunders, death has always been a topic of interest, and as we get older, it becomes more real and close. His own brush with mortality, when his plane was hit by geese shortly after takeoff from Chicago, left him shaken but also profoundly changed. He recalls that the teenage boy next to him asked if this was supposed to be happening, and he replied confidently that it was, which has stuck with him ever since.
Saunders's writing often explores the intersection of our individual experiences and the world around us. His novel Lincoln in the Bardo won the Booker prize in 2017, and Vigil is a ghost story about an oil tycoon who must confront his past actions on his deathbed. The ghosts that visit him force him to grapple with his legacy and consider the impact of his actions.
Saunders's own experiences have shaped his writing style and themes. He grew up in Oak Forest, south Chicago, and was raised by a coal company executive father who later owned a fried-chicken franchise called Chicken Unlimited. He met his wife Paula Redick at Syracuse University, where they both studied creative writing, and began teaching there after completing his MFA.
As a writer, Saunders is committed to exploring complex moral questions through humor and satire. His stories often feature fantastical worlds that critique American society, and he holds the belief that literature can make us better people by requiring writers and readers to transcend themselves and their coarser instincts.
Saunders has also been running his Story Club Substack since 2021, which discusses craft and features comments from over 315,000 subscribers. He finds the non-internet aspect of these conversations reassuring, as they are often filled with kindness and generosity. Despite feeling "yucky" when discussing politics, particularly about Trump's authoritarianism, Saunders believes that writing fiction can help him consider multiple perspectives and become a more interesting person.
Ultimately, Saunders sees his role as a writer as one of creating fictive worlds that improve our thought and compassion. By exploring complex moral questions through humor and satire, he hopes to encourage readers to think differently about the world around them.
. I mean, who else can make you laugh while also confronting you with the harsh realities of our world? His ghost stories aren't just spooky tales, they're actually a way of showing us how we've got to take responsibility for our actions and think about the consequences. 
. I mean, his stories are often set in these fantastical worlds that critique our society, and he believes that literature has the power to make us into better people by challenging our assumptions. 
. Running his Story Club Substack is a great way for him to connect with readers and have these really meaningful conversations about craft, ethics, and more. It's reassuring to see that even in the midst of chaos, we can still find kindness and generosity online 
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. Like, sure, ghosts can be a great way to explore human emotions and empathy, but what happens when that perspective gets filtered through our own biases? Don't get me wrong, Saunders is all about encouraging readers to see multiple sides of an issue, but I think we need more nuance in this kind of storytelling 
. And what's up with the whole "fictive worlds" thing? Isn't it a bit too easy to just create an alternate reality and avoid dealing with the harsh realities of our own world? 
i'm so down for some spooky tales that make me think about climate change and my own mortality what's up with ghosts, anyway? can someone explain to me how they work? 
. His Story Club Substack is also super interesting, it's amazing how a community of people from all walks of life can come together and have these awesome conversations 
i also love how he uses ghost stories as a way to explore our own mortality and how that impacts our relationships with each other 
and I gotta say it really made me think about our own mortality and how we're all gonna face it at some point. As someone who's had their share of close calls (like when my flight got hit by geese 
, yeah that was a wild ride), I can attest to the fact that death is always lurking in the background.
, and I love how he explores complex moral questions in his work.
and the guy next to him asking if that was supposed to happen... it really stuck with him. now he's using those experiences to explore our own mortality and the world we're leaving behind.
It's like, can you really escape what you've done in life when you're staring up at the ceiling of eternity? 
. I think it's great that he's using his platform to encourage readers to think differently about the world around them. It's all about empathy and understanding, you know? 
I need some sources to back this up...