Excerpt from Vigil by George Saunders, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

S'il vous plaît, he said.

It was an immense task we of our ilk were engaged upon. We constituted a guild of sorts, that depended for its work upon such mutual gestures of courtesy.

I indicated with a slight inclination of my head that I would allow it.

Kindly be quick, I said.

Up the Frenchman leapt, showing a surprising agility for one so burdened, his immense stack of papers seeming to inhibit him not a bit.

Excerpted from Vigil by George Saunders. Copyright © 2026 by George Saunders. Excerpted by permission of Random House. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.