{"product_id":"vigil","title":"Vigil","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReading Line\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBooker Prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo; #1 New York Times bestseller\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eGeorge Saunders\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of thirteen books, including the novel \n\u003ci\u003eLincoln in the Bardo, \u003c\/i\u003e which won the Booker Prize, and five collections of stories, including \n\u003ci\u003eTenth of December, \u003c\/i\u003e which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and the recent collection \n\u003ci\u003eLiberation Day \u003c\/i\u003e(selected by former President Obama as one of his ten favorite books of 2022). Three of Saunders's books-- \n\u003ci\u003ePastoralia, Tenth of December, \u003c\/i\u003e and \n\u003ci\u003eLincoln in the Bardo\u003c\/i\u003e--were chosen for \n\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e's list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Saunders hosts the popular Story Club on Substack, which grew out of his book on the Russian short story, \n\u003ci\u003eA Swim in a Pond in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e. In 2013, he was named one of the world's 100 Most Influential People by \n\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Anyone who loves George Saunders's writing can tell you about his wicked imagination: luminous, dark, wholly original, and quite frequently supernatural . . . The twin currents that run through these and all of his works, including his newest novel, \n\u003ci\u003eVigil\u003c\/i\u003e, about a spirit tending to a dying oil executive, is large-heartedness paired with unsparing wit. Saunders is funny. Hilarious even.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Vibrant, fiendishly clever . . . \n\u003ci\u003eVigil\u003c\/i\u003e is leaner than \"Lincoln in the Bardo,\" but no less revelatory in its grasp of history and humanity, how and why our lives are shaped by politics that whorl around us . . . Saunders varies pointillist technique with staccato dialogue, slapstick humor, even touches of horror. It's all thrilling on the page . . . \n\u003ci\u003eVigil\u003c\/i\u003e is pure Saunders: the death of empathy, he insists, is greatly exaggerated. He pushes back, a burst of surprises and sudden grace.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"As the winner of the Booker Prize, Saunders sets a high bar, and his latest easily clears it. Vigil explores the act of dying: what you regret, who you apologize to, and what you are proudest of. Saunders also imagines dying in an evocative, active way while also making time to explore capitalism, greed, and everything else you might regret in your last hours.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eHarper's Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Saunders tucks stories within stories, his prose rich with daring experimentation and his trademark compassion.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"It seems unfair that, after his spectacular \n\u003ci\u003eLincoln in the Bardo\u003c\/i\u003e, Saunders returns with not just another novel featuring a ghost, but with a new novel even more spectacular than the last. 'Who else could you have been but exactly who you are?' says the newly incarnated Jill 'Doll' Blaine, sent to comfort nefarious oil tycoon K. J. Boone in his last hours alive a statement that in no way diminishes the political urgency of this spare, lovely book.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Saunders doing capitalism, climate, and the afterlife in one swing? Sold.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eOprah Daily\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The bard of the afterlife returns with \n\u003ci\u003eVigil\u003c\/i\u003e, a slim yet existentially complex novel about a woman guiding an oil company CEO to death in his waning hours. George Saunders has long been one of the writers best equipped to explore despicable people with clear-eyed compassion, and in his latest he takes aim at his toughest task yet . . . tender yet unsparing.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eChicago Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"In this cartoony, ping-ponging mix of pratfalls, philosophy, psychological nuance, and environmental laments, Saunders once again imagines the afterlife as he did in his Booker Prizewinning \n\u003ci\u003eLincoln in the Bardo\u003c\/i\u003e. In this purposeful, funny, and lacerating variation on Dickens' \n\u003ci\u003eA Christmas Carol\u003c\/i\u003e, Saunders ponders suffering and repentance in a wily indictment of greed, greenwashing, and planetary devastation.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"A magnificent expansion of consciousness . . . Saunders has crafted a novel that feels deeply resonant, especially in these fractious times.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Staggering . . . Saunders has outdone himself with this endlessly irreverent work of art.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e, starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e#1 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER - \"A scorching portrait of modern America. And yet it also brings a sense of sense of hope, not only because [it] reminds us how powerful a great novel can be, but because of the sense . . . that a universal justice will prevail.\"--R. J. Palacio for \u003ci\u003eTime, \u003c\/i\u003e\"25 Books That Capture This American Moment\" \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA \"spectacular\" (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e) novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eLincoln in the Bardo, \u003c\/i\u003e taking place at the bedside of an oil company CEO in the twilight hours of his life as he is ferried from this world into the next \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Vibrant, fiendishly clever . . . \u003ci\u003eVigil \u003c\/i\u003eis pure Saunders: the death of empathy, he insists, is greatly exaggerated.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNot for the first time, Jill \"Doll\" Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls, right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife, and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShe has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn't like the others. The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold, epic life, and the world is better for it. Isn't it? \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eVigil \u003c\/i\u003etransports us, careening, through the wild final evening of a complicated man. Visitors begin to arrive (worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead), clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man's room; a black calf grazes on the love seat; a man from a distant, drought-ravaged village materializes; two oil-business cronies from decades past show up with chilling plans for Boone's postdeath future. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith the wisdom, playfulness, and explosive imagination we've come to expect, George Saunders takes on the gravest issues of our time--the menace of corporate greed, the toll of capitalism, the environmental perils of progress--and, in the process, spins a tale that encompasses life and death, good and evil, and the thorny question of absolution.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 11\/03\/2025 (EAN 9780525509622, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 11\/01\/2025 (EAN 9780525509622, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 11\/15\/2025 (EAN 9780525509622, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 11\/14\/2025 pg. 1 (EAN 9780525509622, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496184152342,"sku":"9780525509622","price":33.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780525509622.jpg?v=1783056946","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/vigil","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}