CivilWarLand in Bad Decline : Stories and a Novella (Paperback)

from kwohlrob

I can't help but feel like a jackass for coming to the game so late. It has been over ten years since Civilwarland in Bad Decline was first published and introduced George Saunders to the literary world. As a guy who is constantly pounding the table about the value of short stories, I look a bit ...

from nogomu

Well, this one is hard to rate. I really liked the 6 short stories, and would maybe consider giving them a 5, but I thought the novella was just ok. It really faded, and doesn't get more than 3 stars from me. The stories though, pretty great.

from miriamparker

I think that Saunders is clever and of his collections, this is my favorite, but the characters are just SO reprehensible that they are hard to read and even harder to like.

from amydross

I enjoyed having read George Saunders more than I enjoyed reading him. The stories themselves have a wearing sameness to them, each unfolding in a world of misery and oppression, populated by desperate, pathetic, and/or doomed characters. These dystopic visions all contain "cute" elements that wo...

from RidgewayGirl

Tenth of December is one of the best book of short stories I have read, so I was excited to go back and read George Saunders's first collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. It isn't a strong or as varied as the later book, but it is interesting to see some of the themes repeat. He's got a wild i...