Vigil

Reviews

“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, Vigil, about a spirit tending to a dying oil executive, is large-heartedness paired with unsparing wit. Saunders is funny. Hilarious even.”—The Atlantic

“Vibrant, fiendishly clever . . . Vigil 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 . . . Vigil is pure Saunders: the death of empathy, he insists, is greatly exaggerated. He pushes back, a burst of surprises and sudden grace.”—The Boston Globe

“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.”—Harper’s Bazaar
“Saunders tucks stories within stories, his prose rich with daring experimentation and his trademark compassion.”—TIME

“It seems unfair that, after his spectacular Lincoln in the Bardo, 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.”—The Los Angeles Times

“Saunders doing capitalism, climate, and the afterlife in one swing? Sold.”—Oprah Daily

“The bard of the afterlife returns with Vigil, 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.”—Chicago Review of Books

“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 Lincoln in the Bardo. In this purposeful, funny, and lacerating variation on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Saunders ponders suffering and repentance in a wily indictment of greed, greenwashing, and planetary devastation.”—Booklist, starred review

“A magnificent expansion of consciousness . . . Saunders has crafted a novel that feels deeply resonant, especially in these fractious times.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Staggering . . . Saunders has outdone himself with this endlessly irreverent work of art.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review Expand reviews