Synopses & Reviews
In
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, George Saunders offers his most boldly imaginative fiction yet.
In a profoundly strange country called Inner Horner, large enough for only one resident at a time, citizens waiting to enter the country fall under the rule of the power-hungry and tyrannical Phil, setting off a chain of injustice and mass hysteria.
An Animal Farm for the 21st century, this is an incendiary political satire of unprecedented imagination, spiky humor, and cautionary appreciation for the hysteric in everyone. Over six years in the writing, and brilliantly and beautifully packaged, this novella is Saunders' first stand-alone, book-length work and his first book for adults in five years.
Review
"George Saunders consistently pulls off the remarkable in his work: he crafts wildly inventive, often hilarious stories that slice deep into a reader's mind and heart. In this short illustrated novel, Saunders has written a playful fable for adults that manages to be substantive and timely while never losing Saunders's brilliant, bizarre touch." Tin House magazine
Review
"[A]n absurdist wit as playful as Monty Python's and a vision as dark as Samuel Beckett's....Tightly packed with detail, dialogue and black humor..." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"All this can be amusing, even if it doesn't betray much effort; this is just talent speaking, the comic voice without the woundedness or anger that truly animates the satirist, like Saunders himself in his earlier work." Eric Weinberger, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"The book is a riff and a very amusing one, I hasten to add on any number of 20th-century monstrosities, not a straight metaphor on the chilling developments of our own time, international and domestic." Boston Globe
Review
"The reader does not care enough about any of these characters....There's no pulse here, and thus the book makes less of an impression than it should." Kansas City Star
Review
"The illustrations and the diminutive size of the book may be a testament to [Saunders's] genius. The same goes for his humor. With less humor and lightness, the read would be unbearable. The subject is devastating enough, and Saunders's treatment of it encourages engagement rather than alienation." Margaret Luongo, The Cincinnati Review (read the entire review from the Cincinnati Review)
Synopsis
From theNew York Timesbestsellingauthor ofTenth of December, a 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction, and the novelLincoln in the Bardo. In a profoundly strange country called Inner Horner, large enough for only one resident at a time, citizens waiting to enter the country fall under the rule of the power-hungry and tyrannical Phil, setting off a chain of injustice and mass hysteria.
An Animal Farm for the 21st century, this is an incendiary political satire of unprecedented imagination, spiky humor, and cautionary appreciation for the hysteric in everyone. Over six years in the writing, and brilliantly and beautifully packaged, this novella is Saunders' first stand-alone, book-length work and his first book for adults in five years.
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Synopsis
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo and the story collection Tenth of December, a 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction.Welcome to Inner Horner, a nation so small it can only accommodate one citizen at a time. The other six citizens must wait their turns in the Short-Term Residency Zone of the surrounding country of Outer Horner. It's a long-standing arrangement between the fantastical, not-exactly-human citizens of the two countries. But when Inner Horner suddenly shrinks, forcing three-quarters of the citizen then in residence over the border into Outer Horner territory, the Outer Hornerites declare an Invasion In Progress--having fallen under the spell of the power-hungry and demagogic Phil.
So begins The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil. An Animal Farm for the 21st century, this is an incendiary political satire of unprecedented imagination, spiky humor, and cautionary appreciation for the hysteric in everyone.
Synopsis
An utterly different kind of novel from the beloved author of Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline.
Synopsis
In a profoundly strange country called Inner Horner, large enough for only one resident at a time, citizens waiting to enter the country fall under the rule of the power-hungry and tyrannical Phil, setting off a chain of injustice and mass hysteria.
An Animal Farm for the 21st century, this is an incendiary political satire of unprecedented imagination, spiky humor, and cautionary appreciation for the hysteric in everyone. Over six years in the writing, and brilliantly and beautifully packaged, this novella is Saunders' first stand-alone, book-length workand his first book for adults in five years.
From the author of Tenth of December...
About the Author
George Saunders is the author of the New York Times Notable Books CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Pastoralia. He is the three-time recipient of the National Magazine Award, and a four-time recipient of the O. Henry Award. Nominated for the PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction, Saunders is currently director of the Creative Writing Program at Syracuse University, where he has received a Graduate Teaching Award. A new collection, The Red Bow, will be published in 2006.