a swim in a pond in the rain george saunders

I had the feeling of, 'If I don't write it down now, I'll forget it with each passing year.' At this stage of life, you look back at all the stuff you've done with an almost scientific clarity. That thought made me sad, and it made me think fondly on all those beautiful mornings in different classrooms around the campus. When that happened, there was a moment where I realized I might not teach the class again. GS: These days, I’m actually teaching less. Karen Russell Talks About 'Sleep Donation'ĮSQ: You've been teaching this class for over two decades, but at what point did you decide that the wisdom of the class should become a book?.Danielle Evans On Telling the Truth About History.More Interviews With Writers From Esquire Now, with each book, I ask myself, 'Can I find some weird corner to get into and some new thing to try?' I'm going to be starting my career as a ballet dancer soon. For me, as you get older in this world, it's interesting how you're always fighting your habits. I’ve never written a book like this before.

I'm at the early stage where not that many people have read the book, so it's always interesting to hear how people react to it. George Saunders: I'm so glad to hear that. It's going to live on that special shelf of my bookshelf reserved for books that get me unstuck when I feel stuck in my writing. What followed was a far-ranging discussion about how to write, how to read, and why both matter, even-and perhaps especially-during such a tumultuous time in human history.Įsquire: George, I've got to tell you-I loved this book so much. Capitol Building, Saunders Zoomed with Esquire from his home in upstate New York. On the day after a violent mob stormed the U.S. By becoming better readers, Saunders argues, we can become better citizens of the world. In these warm, sublimely specific essays, Saunders’ astounding powers of analysis come into full view, as does his gift for linking art with life. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Saunders has distilled decades of coursework into a lively and profound master class, exploring the mechanics of fiction through seven memorable stories by Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, and Gogol. Saunders-the Booker Prize-winning author of numerous works of fiction, including Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December-has spent over two decades teaching creative writing in Syracuse University’s MFA program, where his most beloved class explores the 19th-century Russian short story in translation. It's perhaps the truest distillation of Saunders' visionary life and work, encapsulating the characteristic generosity and humanity of his artistic outlook. 'The part of the mind that reads a story is also the part that reads the world,' George Saunders writes in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.

A swim in a pond in the rain george saunders