The best thing that ever happened to me is that nothing happened in writing. I ended up working for engineering companies, and thats where I found my material, in the everyday struggle between capitalism and grace. Being broke and tired, you dont come home your best self. – George Saunders
Its funny with fiction – once you cut something, it hasnt happened anymore. – George Saunders
I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And hes made of sugar. – George Saunders
The universal human laws – need, love for the beloved, fear, hunger, periodic exaltation, the kindness that rises up naturally in the absence of hunger/fear/pain – are constant, predictable, reliable, universal, and are merely ornamented with the details of local culture. – George Saunders