The Three Words That Made George Saunders a Writer

George Saunders is one of literary fiction's most acclaimed living writers. Along with his many collections of short stories, he also published the Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. This week, Michael chats with him about his life and career, and George reveals the three words that made him a writer.

Reading list:

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, George Saunders,1996

Pastoralia, George Saunders, 2000

In Persuasion Nation, George Saunders, 2006

Tenth of December: Stories, George Saunders, 2013

Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders, 2017

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life, George Saunders, 2021

Liberation Day: Stories, George Saunders, 2022

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, 1916

To Have and Have Not, Ernest Hemingway, 1937

The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway, 1952

The Little Disturbances of Man, Grace Paley, 1959

Ordinary Gods and Monsters, Chris Womersley, 2023

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Or if you want to listen to them as audiobooks, you can head to the Read This reading room on Apple Books.

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Guest: George Saunders