WEBVTT

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Tonight, Mr. Saunders will be
introduced by Cybele Knowles.

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Cybele, can you come on up?

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[APPLAUSE]

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Can you hear me OK?

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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OK.

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How does one even begin to
talk about the work of George

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Saunders?

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I know it's a little daunting.

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Eventually, though, I
figured out a kind of way

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to do it, which is to just
start from a place of gratitude,

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because George
Saunders is a gift.

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His work is so many things--

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political, spiritual,
fabulistic, downright

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hilarious.

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George Saunders does it all.

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He exaggerates our culture,
even to the point of fantasy,

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but through exaggeration
and fantasy,

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leads the reader back to the
real struggles of real people

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in our ureal society.

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He is satire and funny, which
I make special mention of,

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because personally, I remember
reading lots of unfunny satire

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in undergrad classes.

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[CHUCKLING]

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But the singular aspect
of Saunders' work

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is his capacity to
be simultaneously

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lacerating and loving.

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His is the most humanistic
satire I've ever read.

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He writes ruthlessly
about corporate America

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and industries that sell the
promise of emotional fullness

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to emotionally-hungry people.

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He brilliantly lampoons
the tumbling double speak,

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not just of corporations and
governments, but of individuals

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desperately trying to
locate a sense of self-worth

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and a moral compass in
the fog of our times.

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So much of the sheer pleasure
of George Saunders' story

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comes from this continual
verbal veiling and unveiling

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of the truth.

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It's easy enough
to identify some

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of the subjects of
Saunders' satire,

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less easy to place
the stethoscope

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over the precise location of
the empathic heart that so

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evidently beats in his stories.

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I suppose it's because
that heart manifests

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in so many places and ways.

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Saunders creates characters who
are confused by their own lives

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and perpetually dazed by the
merciless world they inhabit.

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Still, they simply wish to be
seen, worthy, moral, happy.

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Saunders never loses
sight of the desired

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ache of the individual.

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And to render this
kind of attention

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to the human predicament is
one of the highest achievements

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of art.

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Most of you already know,
but for those who don't, I

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want to tell you
about his books.

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He has two collections of
short stories, CivilWarLand

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in Bad Decline and Pastoralia.

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He has a fantastic
children's story

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titled The Very Persistent
Gappers of Frip, which

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is being reissued by McSweeney's
and will be available again

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this May.

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His most recent
book is a novella

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titled The Brief and
Frightening Reign of Phil.

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And if you haven't read them
all, go out and do so now.

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Saunders' stories are published
in The New Yorker and Harper's.

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He has won four O. Henry
awards, four National Magazine

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Awards for Fiction and a
Lannan Foundation fellowship.

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He's just finished writing
two screenplays, one

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for CivilWarLand and one for
his amazing story Sea Oak.

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But here's the very, very,
very best news of all.

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He has a new book
of short stories

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titled In Persuasion Nation
coming out in just a few weeks.

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George, thank you so
much for your stories,

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and thank you for coming to
the U of A and making our year.

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We are lucky and honored
to have you with us.

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Everyone, please
welcome George Saunders.

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[APPLAUSE]