A review by robertrivasplata
Liberation Day: Stories by George Saunders

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Collection of nine short stories. At least three can be described as dystopian (more, if you count our moment in history as currently dystopian). All are first person narratives, with the possible exception of “Sparrow”. “Sparrow” is probably the most upbeat of these stories, & the only one that is not super disturbing. Social control seems to be a theme of all of these stories, & with “Liberation Day” & “Elliott Spencer” two of the most extreme manifestations. “Liberation Day” & “Ghoul” both revolve around bizarre & sadistic “entertainments”. “Liberation Day” is probably the best story to be first in this collection, as it combines various dystopian & bizarre elements in a way that feels very true to life & to our moment in history. I like the references in “Liberation Day” to audiobook romance novels, modular synthesizers, & American history fetishism. The ending story “My House” is almost like a Poe story in reverse.