Tenth of December

George Saunders is a master of the short story form and this collection is particularly intriguing because it deals with the themes of envy and boredom and the constant need to keep up with the Joneses. All the stories are excellent, dark and witty, especially Puppy and The Semplica Girl Diaries.

I have read two books by George Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December) and I can conclude that Saunders is not for everyone. Tenth of December is a collection of bizzare short stories, replete with dark humor, and you'll either love them or completely dislike them. I came across reviews that say the stories are quite pointless while others say they're utterly brilliant. I agree with the latter; I find the stories creative and have been intelligently written. You'll be able to enjoy them only if you understand them in their true sense. My favourites from the book are The Semplica Girl Diaries, Exhortation and My Chivalric fiasco.

Good

My first book by Saunders and I loved his writing style. It’s conversational and casual yet powerful. ‘Tenth of December’ is a collection of stories where the author explores a lot of social themes such as drug testing, abuse, degradation of relationships, reminiscing about happy days etc.Each story is distinct. I don’t mean just the plot, but the writing, the characters, the atmosphere, and the overall impact. While a few stories took time to make sense, most were quite interesting. The stories are funny, dark or emotional, sometimes all at once.The author has experimented a lot with the writing style, and that turned out to be one of the reasons the stories kept me hooked. The reading didn’t feel monotonous and at any given point, things didn’t feel out of place (in most cases).The book has been named after the last story ‘Tenth of December’ in which on a chilly December day a man decides to walk away from his family, as he is ow a burden to them. But then life happens and he has yet another adventure waiting for him.A few reviews talk about how this book is about American Life. Well, I don’t know about the Americal part, but this book is definitely a glimpse of the different aspect of life. I wasn’t expecting anything from this book when I dived into it, I just had faith and this book truly surprised me by its easy-going yet eloquent. All those talks about Saunders being a literary genius is quite true, you know. And this particular edition has an introduction to Saunders, and I can relate his personality to the stories he writes and it feels like a closure. I am definitely reading everything by George Saunders.If I had to recommend one story that is a must-read from this collection, it would be The Semplica Girl Diaries. The story talks volumes through many simple diary entries by the protagonist. A close, second favorite would be Victory Lap- very unique, very emotional and very real.

The style is totally different from that of others of his time. I am a kind of a reader who would perhaps prefer classics to this. This is an over-rated book to me.

the book is not good as the new york times best seller rating. i din't like it.

Parfait

No está mal. Historias cortas pero que te dejan un poco loco. Tienes que pensar bien el significado que hay detrás

Tenth of December is a collection of short stories by George Saunders that was published in 2013.Why I bought itGeorge Saunders won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for his novel Lincoln in the Bardo. I read that earlier this year and loved it. Lincoln in the Bardo is his first novel; he primarily wrote short stories before that. I wanted to explore more of his writing, so I bought Tenth of December.Why you should buy itIf you Google “Best books 2013,” Tenth of December is going to pop up on most resulting lists. It is not overrated. George Saunders stories are most likely going to be included in a bunch of textbooks as examples of great early 21st century literature (if they aren’t already). People in the 20th century had Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald. We have George Saunders.Why his writing is goodGeorge Saunders experiments with the forms of stories, so they’re kind of weird. But they are not just soulless intellectual exercises. They all elicit emotion from the reader and examine complex subject matter.The following stories are in this collection:Victory LapA boy decides whether to help a girl who is being kidnapped. The story switches between the point of view of the girl, the neighbor boy, and the kidnapper. The “stream of consciousness” of each of the characters is reflected in each of their points of view. They are all…different.SticksExploring themes of abuse, love, regret, and attempts at forgiveness in the span of two pages, a son reflects on his father’s tradition of decorating of a pole for the holidays.PuppyOne upper-middle class woman shops for a puppy for her spoiled children. One poorer woman wants to sell a puppy. The story shifts between their points of view, demonstrating the consequences of an inability to see things from the perspective of others.Escape from SpiderheadAn exploration of the nature of evil, the justifications used to commit evil, and the agency of people to avoid committing it. Or it’s just a cool sci-fi story about psychoactive chemical experiments. Probably both.ExhortationWritten in the form of a memo from a project manager attempting to boost the morale of his staff. The most darkly funny – or funnily dark – of the stories in this collection.Al RoostenA failing store owner participates in a charity auction. Told from his point of view, the reader becomes privy to all of his insecurities, ambitions, pride, and anger. The reader may come to the conclusion that those internal faults are the causes of his problems and not the outside forces that the character blames.The Semplica Girl DiariesWritten in the form of a journal from the perspective of a middle-class man of relatively modest means trying to provide for his family. This is the longest story in the collection.Saunders’ stories are not usually poetic – the beauty of the written word is not really something he’s usually after – but this one takes the “common-man” writing style to a whole other level. As with a typical journal, whole words are left out of sentences. Almost every sentence is a fragment. It adds a certain level of “authenticity,” but truthfully I thought it was just a distracting affectation. Saunders did not REALLY commit to the form of a journal: there’s stuff in there that no real middle-class dude would ever write in a journal, at least in that fashion, and there are not enough digressions and nonsense to really sell it as “a journal.” The overrall effect is that it’s a traditional story told from a first-person point of view that’s written all wonky.But enough kvetching about the form. It’s still a damn good story. Class anxieties, the exploitation of immigrant labor, meaningless (and/or harmful) demonstrations of wealth, how evil can be overlooked when it is commonplace, and the pursuit of status are all themes explored by this pseudo-sci-fi story.HomeA veteran returns home with post-traumatic stress, wrestling with his past actions, trying to reintegrate with his own, complicated homelife.My Chivalric FiascoOn the first page of the story, the main character discovers his co-worker raped by their boss. This story illustrates the quality of Saunders’ stories. What is on the surface a simple and straightforward story contains layers and layers of meaning, in this instance, society’s reaction to a rape claim, how the chivalric response is potentially toxic and damaging, how interference against the victim’s wishes is in itself a violation, and so on and so forth.Tenth of DecemberA young boy and a man dying of cancer are at a freezing lake in December. Told from both of their points of view. The story explores themes of end-of-life decisions, hope, and goodness. It’s also tense as hell, as they both work to potentially save each other.

Beautiful stories. "Victory Lap" is superb. Enjoyed every sentence. Audio version perfect. Thank you George

I loved this book, as well as CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. I bought and devoured all of Saunder's books after reading the Tenth of December. I recommend him to everyone who relates to a sense of the absurd and is looking for a sliver of hope in today's banal-seeming rat-race. Saunders puts us directly into the minds of the simple, down-trodden, isolated and invisible people; we feel and think what they do, and it is scarily relatable (there but for the grace of god...). These stories can be very, very dark, but somehow, with everything crashing down, with all the chaos, fear. poverty and badness out there, Saunders managed to make me regain a belief in the basic goodness of people and to smile and feel a tiny bit more optimistic. He is a genius at dialogue, self-talk, and wry humour. He made me feel like writing.