Book #18 In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders

Well, it didn't quite make it as book 17, but 18 is close enough.

In Persuasion Nation is an amazing short story collection. I read it basically back to back (as short story collections go) with Charles D'Ambrosio's new collection, The Dead Fish Museum, and it's amazing how different they are in terms of writing style.

My favorite stories in this collection were "Jon" and "The Red Bow." However, I loved reading the whole book. George's stories need to be read more than once...at least by me. I pick up the humor first, because it's obvious, but there's so much else to pick up in terms of theme (good theme, not oogie English class theme) and commentary. I'll need to read it again at some point and when I do I'll get more out of it, different stuff, than I did this time.

This is a mark of a great collection--I already can't wait to read it again.