George Saunders biography

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George Saunders
Photo: Caitlin Saunders

George Saunders

George Saunders Biography

George Saunders is the author of eleven books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English, and was a finalist for the Golden Man Booker, in which one Booker winner was selected to represent each decade, from the fifty years since the Prize's inception. The audiobook for Lincoln in the Bardo, which featured a cast of 166 actors, was the 2018 Audie Award for best audiobook. ­

His stories have appeared regularly in The New Yorker since 1992. The short story collection Tenth of December was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won the inaugural Folio Prize in 2013 (for the best work of fiction in English) and the Story Prize (best short story collection).

He has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, the PEN/Malamud Prize for excellence in the short story, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2013, he was named one of the world's 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In support of his work, he has appeared on The Colbert Report, Late Night with David Letterman, All Things Considered, and The Diane Rehm Show.

He was born in Amarillo, Texas and raised in Oak Forest, Illinois. He has a degree in Geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines and has worked as a geophysical prospector in Indonesia, a roofer in Chicago, a doorman in Beverly Hills, and a technical writer in Rochester, New York. He has taught, since 1997, in the Creative Writing Program at Syracuse University

George Saunders's website

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Books by this Author

Books by George Saunders at BookBrowse
Liberation Day jacket Lincoln in the Bardo jacket Tenth of December jacket The Braindead Megaphone jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for George Saunders but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Sherman Alexie

    Sherman Alexie

    Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane. Approximately 1,100 Spokane Tribal ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Tenth of December

    Try:
    Blasphemy
    by Sherman Alexie

  • Nancy Au

    Nancy Au

    Nancy Au is a genderqueer, bisexual artist and teacher living in Oakland, California. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in anthropology, and has an MFA from San Francisco State University where she teaches ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Pastoralia

    Try:
    Spider Love Song and Other Stories
    by Nancy Au

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