Lincoln in the Bardo

by George Saunders

professor edmund bloomer Say, did you ever taste one of my pickles? If you ate a pickle in the Washington area during the early part of the century, the odds are good it was a “DeCroix Ferocious.” lawrence t. decroix The jars had a red-and-yellow label, as I recall. And upon each, a drawing of a wolverine in a waistcoat? professor edmund bloomer Yes! Those were my pickles! Did you think they were good? lawrence t. decroix Very good. professor edmund bloomer Thank you so much, for saying my pickles were excellent. Thanks for saying that, of all of the pickles being made in the nation at that time, mine were, by far, the best. lawrence t. decroix They were like my work: the greatest in the world at that time. Wouldn’t you say? Can we agree upon that point? professor edmund bloomer I believe we can. I believe we have. On many prior occasions.

"Say, did you ever tase one of my pickles?" "DeCroix Ferocious." is a hilarious name for a pickle.