George Saunders’ Pastoralia is a shorter collection of short fiction than the previously aforementioned CivilWarLand in Bad Decline.
In the meantime–that is, between the reading of the two–I have happily discovered a George Saunders fan site: GeorgeSaundersLand. You can read some of his writings online here.
Of the two collections, I definitely preferred CivilWarLand, but there were a couple of stories which caught my eye, quite, like shiny zoobombs or tiger’s eyes crackling along the asphalt in the sun:
–“Sea Oak”: The narrator is a “pilot” at a local eatery, sort of a Hooters for women, only the men parade around in speedos and flight jackets. He works to support his two cousins, their children and his aunt, who dies suddenly (in a hail of bullets, if I recall correctly). The aunt, a meek old maid who never speaks up for herself, then comes back from the dead in a fury of regret, whipping the narrator and his cousins into shape. Startling and funny.
–“The Falls”: Divided between two narrators walking through their neighborhood–an unassuming, nondescript father/husband experiencing regret and doubt about the lack in his life and an hysterically bad, amusing arrogant poet, whose flights of textual fancy zoom far past any limits of taste. I realize that doesn’t sound very interesting, but the conclusion of this story is exquisite.
Anyway, I like his stuff.