George Saunders
George Saunders
George Saundersis an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas and children's books. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, McSweeney's and GQ. He also contributed a weekly column, American Psyche, to the weekend magazine of The Guardian until October 2008...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth2 December 1958
CityAmarillo, TX
CountryUnited States of America
life-is-short trying ifs
Life is short, very short, and what are we doing here if not trying to become more generous and loving?
tired long curiosity
There comes that phase in life when, tired of losing, you decide to stop losing, then continue losing. Then you decide to really stop losing, and continue losing. The losing goes on and on so long you begin to watch with curiosity, wondering how low you can go.
bigs big-questions incline
Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.
littles nuggets enough
I have nothing. My model is I have nothing figured out, and I'm starting with some little nugget and hoping that it will talk back to me enough to let it grow.
kind form should
I understand what something short should be like. I understand beauty in that form. If I start extending, somehow I kind of lose my bearings.
writing used happens
Humor is what happens when we're told the truth quicker and more directly than we're used to.
firsts speak
...smile first, then speak.
writing interesting political
Writing a story I am just trying to find some little interesting thing to start out with: something small, even trivial. Preferably something that doesn't have a lot of thematic or political baggage - a little crumb that is interesting.
higher-ground luck needs
If a writer understands his work as something that originates with him but then, with any luck, gets away from him, then what he needs is someone who can grasp the potential of the piece and lead him to that higher ground.
nice writing feelings
There's a really nice moment in the life of a piece of writing where the writer starts to get a feeling of it outgrowing him - or he starts to see it having a life of its own that doesn't have anything to do with his ego or his desire to 'be a good writer.
advice littles corny
So here's something I know to be true, although it's a little corny, and I don't quite know what to do with it:
writing ideas trying
My idea about collections is that you write as hard as you can for some period and what you're really doing during that time is hyper-focusing on the individual pieces - trying to make each one sit up and really do some surprising work.
actors never-quit process
I'm fascinated with actors, and I've never quite understood the process.
stories world want
When you read a short story, you come out a little more aware and a little more in love with the world around you. What I want is to have the reader come out just 6 percent more awake to the world.