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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331689.In_Persuasion_Nation?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="In Persuasion Nation" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173815861m/331689.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331689.In_Persuasion_Nation?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">In Persuasion Nation</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8885.George_Saunders">George Saunders</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4190404?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 2 of 5 stars<br/>I "liked" about 1/2 of the stories in this latest Saunders, and the other half felt unfinished or boring or pointless or just brutal, even for Saunders. One of the first things I did was tear the dust cover a bit on accident and then said what the hell and threw it away. The book does look better without that stupid photo anyway. I read it while on vacation in a state park in W. Virginia, which somehow seemed fitting. I will also never go on vacation again with only one book. What was I thinking? Thankfully my brother had a copy of Calvino's Barron in the Trees. I liked the story about the grandfather and the kid going to NYC to see Babar and getting accosted by aural and visual advertisements and a citizen helper with a clipboard. And I do appreciate that feeling I get when starting one of his stories like "what the hell is he talking about" that eventually resolves with Saunders telling you exactly what is happening. The montage of commercials was pretty amusing, but didn't stand up to the brilliance I've known from Saunders. I'm not unhappy to have read it, just not what I am used to from Saunders. This is not the Saunders I remembered from way back in '97. And is definitely not on par with Civilwarland or Pastoralia.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/185876?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Scott's review
rating:
bookshelves: short-anthologies

I "liked" about 1/2 of the stories in this latest Saunders, and the other half felt unfinished or boring or pointless or just brutal, even for Saunders. One of the first things I did was tear the dust cover a bit on accident and then said what the hell and threw it away. The book does look better without that stupid photo anyway. I read it while on vacation in a state park in W. Virginia, which somehow seemed fitting. I will also never go on vacation again with only one book. What was I thinking? Thankfully my brother had a copy of Calvino's Barron in the Trees. I liked the story about the grandfather and the kid going to NYC to see Babar and getting accosted by aural and visual advertisements and a citizen helper with a clipboard. And I do appreciate that feeling I get when starting one of his stories like "what the hell is he talking about" that eventually resolves with Saunders telling you exactly what is happening. The montage of commercials was pretty amusing, ...more

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