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"Before you know it as the years go by, you're just like other people you have seen, with all those peculiar human ailments. Just another vehicle for temper and vanity and rashness and all the rest. Who wants it? Who needs it? These things occupy the place where a man's soul should be." -- Henderson the Rain King

Monday, September 12, 2005

CivilWarLand In Bad Decline

Book #40 of my 50 book challenge was CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders.

CivilWarLand consists of a six excellent short stories and a novella titled 'Bounty'. Each story is set in a future The Philidelphia Inquirer describes as 'a nightmarish post-apocalyptic world that might have been envisioned by Walt Disney on acid'. If you dig Aldous Huxley and Kurt Vonnegut (and I do) then you will probably find this book right up your alley. I enjoyed it quite a bit and will definitely be reading more of Saunders books when I get a chance. I've already picked up a copy of Pastoralia.

While all of the stories in the book were interesting, I think my favorite was "The 400-Pound CEO". It was originally published in Harper's Magazine and won a National Magazine Award for fiction in 1994. I can't find a free excerpt of the story online, but you can listen to it being read on NPR's This American Life here.

On a side note, while I was looking around online for info on the book I stumbled upon the fact that Ben Stiller is currently working on adapting CivilWarLand In Bad Decline into a feature film. Weird.

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posted by Jamie at 12:34 AM