Pastoralia

New
Paperback
2001
$8.62

'Saunders is an astoundingly tuned voice - graceful, dark, authentic and funny - telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times' Thomas Pynchon In PASTORALIA elements of contemporary life are twisted, merged and amplified into a slightly skewed version of modern America. A couple live and work in a caveman theme-park, where speaking is an instantly punishable offence. A born loser attends a self-help seminar where he is encouraged to rid himself of all the people who are 'crapping in your oatmeal'. And a male exotic dancer and his family are terrorised by their decomposing aunt who visits them with a solemn message from beyond the grave. With an uncanny combination of deadpan naturalism and uproarious humour, George Saunders creates a world that is both indelibly original and yet hauntingly familiar

Synopsis

'Saunders is an astoundingly tuned voice - graceful, dark, authentic and funny - telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times' Thomas Pynchon In PASTORALIA elements of contemporary life are twisted, merged and amplified into a slightly skewed version of modern America. A couple live and work in a caveman theme-park, where speaking is an instantly punishable offence. A born loser attends a self-help seminar where he is encouraged to rid himself of all the people who are 'crapping in your oatmeal'. And a male exotic dancer and his family are terrorised by their decomposing aunt who visits them with a solemn message from beyond the grave. With an uncanny combination of deadpan naturalism and uproarious humour, George Saunders creates a world that is both indelibly original and yet hauntingly familiar

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Edition: New
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 03 Sep 2001
ISBN 10: 0747553866
ISBN 13: 9780747553861
Book Overview: PASTORALIA was published to huge literary acclaim, establishing George Saunders, one of the NEW YORKER's twenty writers for the twenty-first century, as one of the most hypnotic and original voices of contemporary fiction. 'A cause of delight with a sense of humour half-way between Beckett and Monty Python, Saunders is an anarchic satirist who draws us into a near-future both surreally strange and utterly recognisable sharp and blackly comic' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'So spot on that you have to stop every now and again to sigh with delight this stuff is gold dust fiercely inventive, unforgettably funny and sentimental in all the right places' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

Media Reviews

'Saunders is an astoundingly tuned voice - graceful, dark, authentic and funny - telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times' Thomas Pynchon

Author Bio

George Saunders is the author of CIVILWARLAND IN BAD DECLINE, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and a NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the year. He teaches Creative Writing at Syracuse University.