namesjitz's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
caseyreaderson's review
4.0
Surprisingly dark, unsurprisingly funny. Starting to wrap my mind around the template of The (early, at least) George Saunders story, but I don't mind—despite similar elements between them, his stories seem to always be enriching, funny, touching-though-dark, and always worth reading.
eve_gorman's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
i love a good cold-hearted critique of capitalism, however i do not love boring stories with boring writing so i unfortunately did not like a good chunk of this book.
i know many people really like george saunders’ writing, but it just did not mesh with me, and the humor fell flat. his writing and storytelling grew on me throughout the short stories, but that progress was mostly ruined by how much i disliked bounty (the novella at the end of the book). overall, there is definitely a lot of merit to these stories, but i have more bad to say than good. mostly about bounty. fuck that story.
finally, i just want to say this. i have no problem with a white man letting his cynical and dark what-if thoughts run wild, until it comes to the horrors faced by historically oppressed groups. then, he better tread lightly and have a damn good point to make. i found most of the racism, misogyny, and sexual violence against women largely pointless, and therefore off-putting and difficult to read. there are exceptions, but not many.
i know many people really like george saunders’ writing, but it just did not mesh with me, and the humor fell flat. his writing and storytelling grew on me throughout the short stories, but that progress was mostly ruined by how much i disliked bounty (the novella at the end of the book). overall, there is definitely a lot of merit to these stories, but i have more bad to say than good. mostly about bounty. fuck that story.
finally, i just want to say this. i have no problem with a white man letting his cynical and dark what-if thoughts run wild, until it comes to the horrors faced by historically oppressed groups. then, he better tread lightly and have a damn good point to make. i found most of the racism, misogyny, and sexual violence against women largely pointless, and therefore off-putting and difficult to read. there are exceptions, but not many.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape and Racism
Minor: Racial slurs
dylanperry's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
The fact that this was a debut collection astounds me, because frankly I think it's the best of Saunders' work I have read so far. Every story kept me on my toes and a few have stuck with me even days after reading them. The only sore thumb of the group is the novella, "Bounty" which I found myself skimming by the end of. Saunders excels at the short story, but when he tries to pen something longer than 15-20 pages, I start to lose interest. Nonetheless, this was a pleasure to read and I look forward to my next Saunders collection.
The fact that this was a debut collection astounds me, because frankly I think it's the best of Saunders' work I have read so far. Every story kept me on my toes and a few have stuck with me even days after reading them. The only sore thumb of the group is the novella, "Bounty" which I found myself skimming by the end of. Saunders excels at the short story, but when he tries to pen something longer than 15-20 pages, I start to lose interest. Nonetheless, this was a pleasure to read and I look forward to my next Saunders collection.
theverbalthing's review against another edition
5.0
The hall director in my dorm suggested I read this book during our first real conversation with each other, and though his description was somewhat flawed (no pun intended), I thought the stories sounded interesting enough to keep my attention. He finally gave me the book to borrow about a week ago, and I busted through it in two days.
This is a bizarre little collection of short stories, and the novella at the end ("Bounty") had me thinking very deeply about the nature of poverty and how prejudice works. I think Saunders' characters all have very similar voices, at least in terms of narrators, but that works. I didn't mind it. I was intrigued by the casual violence and the disturbingly deep implications of it, as well as he way privilege worked into every story in this collection. I'm definitely a fan.
This is a bizarre little collection of short stories, and the novella at the end ("Bounty") had me thinking very deeply about the nature of poverty and how prejudice works. I think Saunders' characters all have very similar voices, at least in terms of narrators, but that works. I didn't mind it. I was intrigued by the casual violence and the disturbingly deep implications of it, as well as he way privilege worked into every story in this collection. I'm definitely a fan.
eraofkara's review
3.0
George definitely has his favorite themes - losers, loners, and theme parks - but despite the repetition, the stories were still compelling. But I grew really sick of the novella about halfway through. Meh.
jrboudreau's review against another edition
5.0
I can only write two things that will exemplify how much I enjoyed reading this book. First, I finished the whole thing in about 25 hours (I still had to go to work). Second, despite people telling me I should read it for the last 10 years, I was still totally blindsided by how good it is. How funny, perceptive, tragic, and gorgeous it would be. Let me be the 624,871st person to tell you: read this book.