CivilWarLand in Bad Decline: Stories and a Novella

Since its publication in 1996, George Saunders’s debut collection has grown in esteem from a cherished cult classic to a masterpiece of the form, inspiring an entire generation of writers along the way. In six stories and a novella, Saunders hatches an unforgettable cast of characters, each struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world. With a new introduction by Joshua Ferris and a new author’s note by Saunders himself, this edition is essential reading for those seeking to discover or revisit a virtuosic, disturbingly prescient voice.
 
Praise for George Saunders and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
 
“It’s no exaggeration to say that short story master George Saunders helped change the trajectory of American fiction.”The Wall Street Journal
 
“Saunders’s satiric vision of America is dark and demented; it’s also ferocious and very funny.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“George Saunders is a writer of arresting brilliance and originality, with a sure sense of his material and apparently inexhaustible resources of voice. [CivilWarLand in Bad Decline] is scary, hilarious, and unforgettable.”—Tobias Wolff
 
“Saunders makes the all-but-impossible look effortless.”—Jonathan Franzen
 
“Not since Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.”—Zadie Smith
 
“An astoundingly tuned voice—graceful, dark, authentic, and funny—telling just the kinds of stories we need to get us through these times.”—Thomas Pynchon

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224 pages

Average rating: 7.22

9 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
Jun 26, 2024
8/10 stars
As one negative review puts it, "...this is not the realm of magical realism, in the Latin American sense, merely comic book level pathetic irony..".

Well I like comic books.

If you like Saunders, try Jack Pendarvis (and maybe Sam Lipsyte).
E Clou
May 10, 2023
4/10 stars
There are 7 short stories in this book. The first, "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" is sort of interesting, as is the fifth story, "Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz." The second story, "Isabelle," is super sad and disturbing to nihilistic levels. I know it technically has a happy ending but holy cow, it's rough. I don't even know what's happening in the third story, "The Wavemaker Falters." Feel free to explain that one to me. The fourth story, "The 400-Pound CEO" is another sad time. The sixth story, "Downtrodden Mary...," is even sadder yet as horrible things happen to an old lady. The seventh story, "Bounty," is actually a dystopian novella about a world where the genetically imperfect are vulnerable to enslavement or annihilation. While I love a good dystopian book, this one is crazypants Saunders in action.

I'm a fan of Saunders (this is my 7th Saunders book), but I wasn't a fan of this collection. Saunders's voice is too similar for each of the characters, especially the bad boss characters that love talking in cliches. The writing doesn't seem clear to me and I had to revisit a lot of it to figure out what was going on. Also, the stories meander so you think it's going to be about one thing, then it wanders off to a different idea.

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