Lincoln in the Bardo: WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 (Bloomsbury Publishing) - Softcover

Saunders, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408871777 ISBN 13: 9781408871775

Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks, 2018

Synopsis

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' The 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?

About this title

Review:

A masterpiece (Zadie Smith New York Times)

Must be one of my favourite novels. What a warm, kindhearted and radical piece of writing. Such delicacy, such serious wit. I love it (Max Porter)

An early contender for 2017's Man Booker, a highly affecting novel about Abraham Lincoln's grief at the loss of his young son (Sunday Times 2017-01-01)

The much anticipated long-form debut from the US short-story maestro does not dissapoint (Guardian 2017-01-07)

The debut novel by the short-story supremo George Saunders. Set in 1862 in a cemetery in Washington, it has drawn high praise (New Statesman 2017-01-06)

A cacophonous, genre-busting book inspired by the death of Abraham Lincoln's young son (Metro 2017-01-09)

Filled with wit and sadness . It is an immensely powerful work. In the hands of the right imagination, the horror of individual loss can become an extraordinarily humane exploration of the beauty and the value of life, however painful (Guardian 2017-09-21)

An original father-son tale that expertly blends history and fiction (and even the supernatural), Lincoln in the Bardo explores grief, loss, life, death (Buzzfeed Year Ahead in Books)

George Saunders makes you feel as though you are reading fiction for the first time (Khaled Hosseini)

A morally passionate, serious writer ... He will be read long after these times have passed (Zadie Smith)

Book Description:

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1408871777
• ISBN 13: 9781408871775
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368