Tonight, Mr. Saunders will be introduced by Cybele Knowles.
Cybele, can you come on up?
[APPLAUSE]
Can you hear me OK?
Yes.
Yeah.
OK.
How does one even begin to talk about the work of George
Saunders?
I know it's a little daunting.
Eventually, though, I figured out a kind of way
to do it, which is to just start from a place of gratitude,
because George Saunders is a gift.
His work is so many things--
political, spiritual, fabulistic, downright
hilarious.
George Saunders does it all.
He exaggerates our culture, even to the point of fantasy,
but through exaggeration and fantasy,
leads the reader back to the real struggles of real people
in our ureal society.
He is satire and funny, which I make special mention of,
because personally, I remember reading lots of unfunny satire
in undergrad classes.
[CHUCKLING]
But the singular aspect of Saunders' work
is his capacity to be simultaneously
lacerating and loving.
His is the most humanistic satire I've ever read.
He writes ruthlessly about corporate America
and industries that sell the promise of emotional fullness
to emotionally-hungry people.
He brilliantly lampoons the tumbling double speak,
not just of corporations and governments, but of individuals
desperately trying to locate a sense of self-worth
and a moral compass in the fog of our times.
So much of the sheer pleasure of George Saunders' story
comes from this continual verbal veiling and unveiling
of the truth.
It's easy enough to identify some
of the subjects of Saunders' satire,
less easy to place the stethoscope
over the precise location of the empathic heart that so
evidently beats in his stories.
I suppose it's because that heart manifests
in so many places and ways.
Saunders creates characters who are confused by their own lives
and perpetually dazed by the merciless world they inhabit.
Still, they simply wish to be seen, worthy, moral, happy.
Saunders never loses sight of the desired
ache of the individual.
And to render this kind of attention
to the human predicament is one of the highest achievements
of art.
Most of you already know, but for those who don't, I
want to tell you about his books.
He has two collections of short stories, CivilWarLand
in Bad Decline and Pastoralia.
He has a fantastic children's story
titled The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip, which
is being reissued by McSweeney's and will be available again
this May.
His most recent book is a novella
titled The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil.
And if you haven't read them all, go out and do so now.
Saunders' stories are published in The New Yorker and Harper's.
He has won four O. Henry awards, four National Magazine
Awards for Fiction and a Lannan Foundation fellowship.
He's just finished writing two screenplays, one
for CivilWarLand and one for his amazing story Sea Oak.
But here's the very, very, very best news of all.
He has a new book of short stories
titled In Persuasion Nation coming out in just a few weeks.
George, thank you so much for your stories,
and thank you for coming to the U of A and making our year.
We are lucky and honored to have you with us.
Everyone, please welcome George Saunders.
[APPLAUSE]