In Persuasion Nation by George Sauders

I don't know if we're supposed to write about every book we read, I would imagine not, but this one was pretty great, so I thought I'd give the people a little something something.

I had not read any George Saunders previously, but I devoured this set of short stories. Saunders has what seems to me to be a unique ability in literature...the ability to make me laugh out loud while being outraged at the same time. Story after story, most of which are set in a not-so-distant futuristic world, shows people making the wrong decisions for all the wrong reasons, or characters getting punished for idealism or good deeds. The book is funny (satire is supposed to be), but its not JUST funny (not that there is anything wrong with that). In an interview I read with Ted Leo once, where asked if his latest album felt more political in subject matter than previous ones, he said that ALL his songs were political. I think the same could be said of Saunders. Every story, whether its a love story, or a letter, or narrated by a 10 year old boy, is political, in that it comments on our world and our society, and subtly passes judgment or implies that something is wrong or could be writer. Saunders is never polemical, but he is always political. And that is worth a lot.

Score 8/10