The Brief And Frightening Reign Of Phil

Description

Welcome to Inner Horner, a nation so small it can only accommodate one citizen at a time. But when Inner Horner suddenly shrinks, forcing three-quarters of the citizen in residence over the border into Outer Horner territory, the Outer Hornerites declare an Invasion in Progress, having fallen under the spell of the power-hungry and demagogic Phil. So begins his brief and very frightening reign The novella is followed by In Persuasion Nation, a collection of stories by turns touching, funny and sad, and set in a warped, hilarious yet very recognisable American landscape.

Promotion info

The story 'The Red Bow' won the National Magazine Award for FictionCult status for George Saunders grows larger with every book

Reviews

'Graceful, dark, authentic and funny' Thomas Pynchon 'An American short-story writer of intimidating talent' Zadie Smith, Marie Claire 'Dark, concerned, confused and funny, all at the same time ... Like so much of Saunders' brilliant, crazy writing it's relevant, but not too relevant' The Times 'You do not read Saunders' stories so much as watch them detonate on the page in front of you, like a firecracker some joker has slipped into your pudding' Stephen Amidon, New Statesman

Author description

George Saunders is the author of two short-story collections Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, as well as the children's book, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip. His work has received four National Magazine Awards, and has been selected for the O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories collections. In 1999, Saunders was recognized as one of the 20 best young American fiction writers by the New Yorker. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.