In particular, I will identify echoes of Saunders in three categories: defamiliarization, humor, and emotionality. If you’re new to Saunders, Joel Lovell’s NYT piece is a good place to start. In this review, I’ll examine Interior Chinatown in a Saundersian (Saundersy?) context, exploring themes and techniques reminiscent of the renowned short story author. A reviewer of Yu’s short story collection Sorry Please Thank You compared the authors, saying, “I don’t know that there’s a better story-bending talent at work than Yu since the rise of George Saunders.” All of this, plus Yu’s charming acceptance of the National Book Award - “I’m gonna go, uh, melt into a puddle right now” - compelled me to buy his celebrated new book. Both authors funded their writing careers with corporate jobs, Saunders working as a technical writer and Yu working as an in-house lawyer. Yu reviewed Tenth of December for the LA Review of Books. In an interview with Amazon he remarks that Saunders’ CivilWarLand in Bad Decline “blew the doors off the empty little space that had previously housed my puny imagination.”Īs it turns out, connections between the authors abound. I went on to learn that Yu is a huge fan of Saunders, so much so that he credits him with his start in writing.
And what did the NYT have to say about the novel? “ recalls the humorous and heartfelt short stories of George Saunders.” George Saunders! Apparently this isn’t a coincidence.
I’d sort of given up hope - if it’s any indication, I’d started reading Sapiens - when the National Book Award winner was announced: Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown. I left with Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy, which was wonderful but the opposite of what I needed: cold and detached, like a dream. I went to my local bookstore and asked for a something similar, something with heart and empathy. You feel magnanimous, expansive, warm.Īfter finishing the last of his books, though, the warmth began to fade. Reading him, you become imbued with a sense of concern for others and an acceptance of their flaws.
No one writes more powerfully and compassionately about this topic than Saunders. This summer I binged my way through most of George Saunders’ published works, book after book, engulfing stories about people facing hard times and trying to do the right thing. 2020 being what it is, I’ve become attracted to books that offer humanistic guidance and emotional support.
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