And then by this process of revision, mysteriously it starts to accrete meanings as you go. So for me the approach has become to go into a story not really sure of what I want to say, try to find some little seed crystal of interest, a sentence or an image or an idea, and as much as possible divest myself of any deep ideas about it. What I find usually is if I have a subject and I do that, it tends to be a little dull.
GEORGE SAUNDERS: Well, I do, but my approach is much more intuitive. Do you feel you have a subject? Is there something that you are trying tell? JEFFREY BROWN: Speaking of deranged, people speak of George Saunders’ subjects, the wackiness of consumerism sometimes or the absurdity of corporate life or the fraying of social relations, and that certainly comes through in a lot of the stories here, for individuals, families, the haves and have-nots in today’s society. GEORGE SAUNDERS: Yeah there is a piece in here that I started in 1998 and just finished last year.
JEFFREY BROWN: So these pieces are worked over, worked and worked and worked? The assumption there is that if I can be more efficient, it’s actually being more respectful to the reader, which then implies a greater intimacy with the reader. GEORGE SAUNDERS: Usually I’ll get maybe two-thirds more than I need and cut back. JEFFREY BROWN: As much as you can, really? You are also known for a compression of language. JEFFREY BROWN: Of course, a short story compresses the narrative. My stories, I can understand them as a little toy that you wind up and you put it on the floor and it just goes under the coach. I think it might be a little bit like in sports, where there are fast-switch muscles and slow-switch muscles. If I start extending, somehow I kind of lose my bearings. I understand what something short should be like. GEORGE SAUNDERS: For me it’s almost neurological. What is it good for? Why is it the form for you? JEFFREY BROWN: I want to start by asking you about the genre of the short story, because it’s something we don’t hear that much about. Saunders is the author of six previous books, received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006 and teaches creative writing at Syracuse University. His new collection is “Tenth of December,” 10 stories of biting social satire and deeply felt takes on contemporary American life. Those are just some of the adjectives used to describe the work of George Saunders, one of the nation’s best-known writers of short stories. Dark, subversive, compassionate, hilarious.
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