A collection of stories that are original, thought provoking and thoroughly enjoyable. A new writer to me. I’ll be looking out his other books. Recommend.

A wonderful, thought provoking collection of stories.. Saunders paints such wonderfully rich and believeably real characters.

The more dystopian settings amongst the collection slowly world build around the reader. All the stories explore morality, the flaws of humans and the influence of society in both big and small ways.

George Saunders has the most incredible imagination and it is well on show in this collection. It is amazing to think all of these stories came from the brain of one man… there is quite a variety here. And every unique story is perfect and beautifully formed. This man is a master of the short form.

I had several favourites but I particularly love the story with the grandfather writing a letter to his grandson. We hear the love and the distress but we never really know what’s going on because we only have one side of the story.

If you like short stories, or even if you’re not sure about them, read this collection and be amazed, amused, and entertained.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

I think I have whiplash from the breadth and scope of this short story collection. There’s science fiction in there, dystopia, relationship dramas, politics and the absurd. No story here is really like anything I’ve ever read before. It took me completely our of my comfort zone, but anchored every story in something relatable at the perfect moment. Mind expanding!

I read Saunders’ book about short stories and, in this collection, he lives up to all of his advice. He writes beautiful, comically, often bringing quirky unique characters into the real world for all of our enjoyment. Terrific.

Unfortunately this was an underwhelming and disappointing collection. I have heard that Saunders is a brilliant short story writer but I enjoyed hardly any of the stories in this collection. The titular story was a slog to get through and I did not think it worked well.

An unmemorable collection.

I read Lincoln in the Bardo when it won the Booker Prize and was blown away by the incredible storytelling and cast of characters so was really excited to get an ARC of his new short story collection, Liberation Day.

It's a series of beautifully written speculative fiction and more realistic short stories. While I did initially find the more real stories more compelling, it's the dystopian themed stories that I have kept coming back to.

A brilliant short story collection, definitely one for lovers of George Sanders writing and I have purchased a physical copy as a Christmas gift for someone who I know will love it.

A great collection of short stories that are packaged to deliver significant punch in just a few pages. Filled with Saunders trademark sense of melancholy, each tale drags you in before leaving you somewhat confused by it's close. Perhaps as a reader we should not concentrate on the 'sense' of Liberation Day, but rather just enjoy the realistic human weirdness that ensues. Perhaps the most memorable is actually the titular story as androids find their voice against layers of oppression.

I wasn’t familiar with George Saunders’ work before this, despite the Booker, but I will definitely be reading more in future. Short fiction is one of my favourite genres and these stories were some of the most engaging and original examples I read all year. Highly recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I previously read Lincoln in the Bardo by Saunders and found it really challenging initially, but once I got into it it was incredibly rewarding. LITB is easily my favourite audiobook with its massive cast and witty prose. I jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of Saunders latest collection in exchange for an honest review.

Liberation Day is a collection of nine short stories, told in his distinctive sparse style. Much like Lincoln, I struggled to find my footing with this initially. I hadn’t a clue what was going on in some of the stories but once I copped what the angle was, it was magical.

There’s a mix of dystopian stories with more realistic ones. I was in parts horrified, moved and laughing out loud. I think Saunders does a great job of capturing some very modern concerns with buckets of wit.

I initially preferred the more realistic stories as they were easier to understand on the surface but it’s been the dystopian ones that have stuck with me since. I definitely want to read it again and will be buying myself a physical copy - a sign of a great read for me.

Thanks to @bloomsburypublishing for the ARC of this book via NetGalley.

#liberationday #georgesaunders #netgalley #bookrecommendations #bookreview #fourstar #bloomsbury

George Saunders has a great talent for presenting very odd stories which pack a powerful emotional punch. At points during this collection of short stories I wasn't even entirely sure what I was going on, but I knew that I was enjoying the writing and that I got who the characters were and what was driving them. The stories here cover the mundane of life to peculiar fantasy worlds, repeating some of the brilliance of Lincoln in the Bardo. A particular highlight for me was the opening tale, which had a strong Ishiguro flavour to it. My brain isn't quite sure what made this such a great read for me, but my heart was definitely in it.

The stories in this collection are strange and disturbing but somehow full of love and humanity at the same time. It’s what I really like about George Saunders that he doesn’t shy away from the best or worst of life, but somehow manages to make you come away hopeful.

I read Lincoln in the Bardo years ago and loved the style of writing and the storytelling. I never read any George Saunders' short story before and was curious.
The style of writing and the storytelling are brilliant as I remembered, I'm not sure I understood the message even if I appreciated the stories.
It's not an easy read but it's an excellent one and I want to read it again when I'm less tired.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I received an ARC copy of this collection of stories from NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing UK, and I freely decided to review it.
I read and reviewed Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, his first novel, of well-deserved fame, but I was aware that he was well-known for his short stories and tales, so I could not resist checking this collection. Habitual readers of this author might want to check the book’s contents, as some of them have been published before, but I found it a fascinating work, disquieting, disturbing, thought-provoking, but also beautiful and a masterclass in writing. Exploring a variety of subjects (memory, identity, manipulation, politics, lies, moral and ethical values, love, family relations, loyalty, creativity, and art...), with the multiple voices, points of view, stream-of-consciousness, epistles, varying lengths, and genres, and the many settings and characters, it is an extraordinary reading experience.

Liberation Day. A novella-sized story, an allegory, and/or a dystopian story set in a not-too-distant future (or in a parallel universe), both breathtakingly beautiful and utterly terrifying. Enslavement, murder, memory, forgetting, history, performance, love, family, work, relationships, politics, social order... Brutal and shocking as a work of art should be.
The Mom of Bold Action: This one will make readers, and especially writers, smile, as the main character, Tina, stuck for an idea for a story, keeps trying to make up stories based on anything and everything that happens around her. Unfortunately, when something important (?) happens, her writing has unexpected consequences. Duty, guilt, justice, family, and motherhood all turn this seemingly comedic story into something not quite so benign.
Love Letter: A moving love letter between a grandfather and his grandson, but also a commentary on ageing, politics, the stories we tell ourselves and the excuses we make for our own actions,on how our everyday lives and actions have an impact on History, and a vivid reminder that, as Edmond Burke wrote: ‘All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing’.
A Thing at Work: This is a story told from multiple points of view (I am not sure what readers who hate head-hopping will think, but it is clear whose head you’re in at all times) narrating an incident at an office. There are good intentions, pettiness, revenge, self-justification, anger, impotence... And although what happens is of little consequence (at least in the large scheme of life), it is a gem of observation and characterization.
Sparrow: Told in the first person plural and at times even the second person, it is an unusual romantic story, beautifully told and surprisingly optimistic.
Ghoul: The same as in Liberation Day, at first we are not sure what is going on and where we are. Is it a strange amusement park, full of actors playing a variety of roles in different set scenes (even though they are called work-houses)? Is this an underground place? Is it Hell? Are these human beings that at some point went underground and now live an alternative life, a pretend one, forever waiting for visitors from above? There are laws, rules, and the consequences for breaking them are horrific. But if you are aware that someone has broken the rules and you don’t denounce the guilty party, you might end up being punished yourself. There is always room for hope, though. A dystopian version of The Truman Show, an allegory of certain political regimes, or something else entirely?
Mother’s Day: A Mother’s Day that starts pretty ordinary, but a chance encounter makes Alma’s mind wander down memory lane, and the same happens to Debby, the woman she meets, who might not be a friend, but they share a connection. We discover lies, pettiness, self-justification, regrets, and, perhaps mother nature bringing on a day or reckoning.
Elliot Spencer: Another story that begins with readers being witness to something that can have different readings: some sort of therapy, perhaps, or rehabilitation, as the main character (89, later Greg, and possibly neither) is taught words, their ‘meanings’, and trained, but, what for? He discovers he is not the only one, and it seems he is a part of some sort of operation staging protests. But why is he there? Who is he? How did he get here? Does he even know what the cause is? And does it really matter? Is that what politics has become? Memory and what makes us what we are lies at the heart of this story, as it does many of the others. It brought to my mind the first part of William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury.
My House: Two men, with similar dreams, with much in common, whose lives cross because of a house, end up at loggerheads due to a moment’s hesitation and miscommunication. A story that questions what is really important and what meaning we attach to the things that surround us. We cannot be objective about certain things, it seems, and the house stands for something beyond even its history.
I cannot think of any good reason not to read this book. These are not classical stories with a well-defined beginning, middle, and end, and a clear message. These are stories where readers have to work and bring in their own interpretations. After all, that is what reading is, or should be, about. So, accept the challenge, and enjoy these stories.

Having loved Lincoln in the Bardo, this was my first foray into his short stories, and I found them weird, wonderful and oddly engaging.

We have topics and worlds as varied as a future where language operates entirely differently, frustrated families, and dystopian memory wiping.

Although I sometimes found myself a little lost in some stories, I admired the craft of it all, gorgeous sentences that convey far more than first appears.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

George Saunders is a brilliant short story writer but he’s also capable of writing some absolute drek - unfortunately, Liberation Day is down there with the likes of The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil and Fox 8 as among his most dire work. What’s worse is that the garbage is unrelenting - there’s no story here that’s even half decent!

The titular story is one of the horrendous and opens the collection - at least it sets the tone of awfulness that’s to come! It’s barely comprehensible - a feature that’s applicable to the majority of the stories here. Something about robots or AI performing historical re-enactments and it’s somehow a commentary on social media…? No idea.

I tried reading Fox 8 a few years ago and couldn’t do it. It’s written in the first person (animal?) of a fox narrating a story and it’s written in this twee, irritating style that’s completely unreadable. Saunders does the same thing with Liberation Day, doing some experimental drivel that only added to my confusion as a reader who didn’t know what was going on or why.

As bad as Liberation Day is, that’s nothing compared to the worst story here, Elliott Spencer, which takes the experimental narration to the next level of sheer frustration. Again, I had no idea what the story was about - I gather it’s about a person who’s become a robot or something because they donated their body to medical science…? This story is simply an exercise in patience. Hats off to you if you can make it through without getting a headache.

The other stories aren’t good but you at least know more or less what’s going on in them, even if you don’t care. The Mom of Bold Action is about a mom whose kid gets pushed by an elderly homeless and who decides to seek vengeance upon them - incompetently. A Thing At Work is a story of office politics and class injustice. My House is about a guy trying to buy a house from an old weirdo.

Some stories are so unremarkable, I wonder if they weren’t added to make up the page count more than anything. Love Letter is a tedious narrative about a dystopian future America. Sparrow is about a woman who falls for a man at the store she works at. Mother’s Day is about grown-up kids and their estranged, elderly parents. Ghoul is another dystopian future story about humanity living underground because climate change, I think? I got the sense that Saunders was trying to do more feeble commentary on social media (using the “correct” vocabulary, witch hunts, etc.).

This is one of the worst books I’ve read all year, and easily the worst short story collection by Saunders to date. The stories are a mix of unmemorable, vague or plain annoying fictions that were an unbelievably tedious trial to unrewardingly trudge through. A total waste of time - liberate yourself by never reading Liberation Day! George Saunders can write superb short stories and, if you’re interested in reading those, I recommend Civilwarland in Bad Decline and Pastoralia instead of this horrorshow of a book.

I think I probably need to reread this book to get the full picture. Immensely thought provoking, very well written.
Took me a while to read although a short book but the stories have much to say,

George Saunders is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore. The bruising chaos and division of the Trump presidency hangs heavy over this new collection of short stories, jostling for space with Saunders’ trademark hyperactive inventiveness and notions of an afterlife that powered Lincoln in the Bardo. Love Letter is the most political and straightforward story here, a letter from grandparent to grandson offering advice on whether to turn in friends or relatives to the authorities to protect themselves. The same theme is developed even further in Ghoul. In a nightmarish theme park a finely-calibrated system of control by gaslighting terrorises employees to turn each other in for the merest slight before others turn them in. The longest story sees a dystopian American company surgically reprogramme the vulnerable and destitute kept in the houses of the wealthy as private re-enactors. This story collides virtually everything that’s great about Saunders: exploration of American cultural sacred cows (in this case Little Big Horn and Custer); wit and humour; and a dizzying manipulation of language. This collection maintains Saunders’ reputation as one of the leading short story crafter of modern times.

Sparse, bleak and striking, each one of these stories is well-articulated and examines human nature in quirky and inventive ways. You are fully immersed in each story and come away with disturbing feelings about who we are and how we live our lives. Family relationships, friendships and working relationships are tested and tried again and again, and you find yourself looking for the good and the optimistic, sometime in vain. Well-written and enlightening, these are real stories that hurt.

Liberation Day is a collection of quirky stories set in nearly-but-not-quite our modern world. It reminded me at times of watching the Charlie Brooker TV series, Black Mirror, because some of the tales were a little dystopian! The offbeat stories were very thought-provoking and raised interesting ethical and moral questions, as well as being an entertaining read.

Recommended for short story lovers.