Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
Buy on AmazonAnd if you’re open to supernatural elements, you should also read Lincoln in the Bardo , a wild ride of a novel set in the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln’s young son has been recently buried. It features rude ghosts, spectral humour and a polyphonic chorus of voices. Lincoln in the Bardo , which won in 2017, is both hilarious and heartbreaking, but you need to be ready for the text to take excitingly experimental form. It’s one of my favourite books of all time. I laugh just thinking of it.
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"And if you’re open to supernatural elements, you should also read Lincoln in the Bardo , a wild ride of a novel set in the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln’s young son has been recently buried. It features rude ghosts, spectral humour and a polyphonic chorus of voices. Lincoln in the Bardo , which won in 2017, is both hilarious and heartbreaking, but you need to be ready for the text to take excitingly experimental form. It’s one of my favourite books of all time. I laugh just thinking of it."
Booker Prize-Winning Historical Novels · fivebooks.com
"This is how George Saunders will get you: He’ll start with some premise that sounds absurd or gimmicky (previously – human lawn ornaments! This time – Abraham Lincoln in purgatory!) and so you’ll go in ungirded, expecting something pleasantly wacky. Then he’ll spin a story so humane and generous and moving that you will be unraveled completely."
NPR Books We Love — 2017 · apps.npr.org
"I just got "Lincoln in the Bardo," by George Saunders, on audiobook, and I'm excited to have a long weekend off to dive into it."
By the Book: Gabourey Sidibe · nytimes.com
"George Saunders's "Lincoln in the Bardo" is a hands-down masterpiece — the subject of Abraham Lincoln and the genius of this author is a perfect union. I wept while reading this book. It is singular — I've never read anything quite like it."
By the Book: Jeffrey Tambor · nytimes.com
"I loved the brooding Abe Lincoln in 'Lincoln in the Bardo,' by George Saunders."
By the Book: John Lithgow · nytimes.com
""Lincoln in the Bardo," George Saunders."
By the Book: Karen Joy Fowler · nytimes.com
"George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo took my breath away. I finished it with the same feeling I had after reading Dostoyevsky, Garcia Marquez, Flannery O'Connor, or Maxine Hong Kingston."
By the Book: Marie Arana · nytimes.com
By the Book: Michael Cunningham · nytimes.com
"if I have to choose only one, then it's "Lincoln in the Bardo," by George Saunders. A masterpiece."
By the Book: Zadie Smith · nytimes.com