The word funny is a bit like the word love – we dont have enough words to describe the many varieties. – George Saunders
We have that illusion that we are deciding what to make a character do, in order to convey our message or something like that. But, at least in my experience, you are often more like a river-rafting guide whos been paid a bonus to purposely steer your clients into the roughest possible water. – George Saunders
The scariest thought in the world is that someday Ill wake up and realize Ive been sleepwalking through my life: underappreciating the people I love, making the same hurtful mistakes over and over, a slave to neuroses, fear, and the habitual. – George Saunders
Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another. – George Saunders