Lincoln in the Bardo: WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017

· Bloomsbury Publishing
4.2
21 reviews
Ebook
288
Pages
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About this ebook

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017

A STORY OF LOVE AFTER DEATH

'A masterpiece'
Zadie Smith
'Extraordinary' Daily Mail
'Breathtaking' Observer
'A tour de force' Sunday Times

The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven year old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War

The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body.

From this seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of realism, entering a thrilling, supernatural domain both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself trapped in a transitional realm - called, in Tibetan tradition, the bardo - and as ghosts mingle, squabble, gripe and commiserate, and stony tendrils creep towards the boy, a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.

Unfolding over a single night, Lincoln in the Bardo is written with George Saunders' inimitable humour, pathos and grace. Here he invents an exhilarating new form, and is confirmed as one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Deploying a theatrical, kaleidoscopic panoply of voices - living and dead, historical and fictional - Lincoln in the Bardo poses a timeless question: how do we live and love when we know that everything we hold dear must end?

Ratings and reviews

4.2
21 reviews
Heather Boundy
July 15, 2017
Fascinating but quite difficult to follow the thread of the narrative
4 people found this review helpful
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Richard Block
March 24, 2018
A challenging read but emotional and unchanting
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Na Ap
April 16, 2023
nope. no more of this for me thanks google algorithm.
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About the author

George Saunders is the author of nine books, including Lincoln in the Bardo, winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize. Tenth of December was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the inaugural Folio Prize. He has received MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships and the PEN/Malamud Prize for excellence in the short story, and was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2013, he was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.
georgesaundersbooks.com

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