Rating: 
Summary: What drugs was this guy on?
Review: The stories were boring and terse. I think he was hitting the ... and making the ... up as he went along. The 400lb CEO was supposed to be the best story in the bunch and it was weak. I did not finish this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The meek shall not inherit the earth
Review: The title story is the gem here, about a "passive flake" who works at an historical theme park. Saunders isn't a complex writer, but he has a wonderfully ironic, almost deadpan, style. These aren't exactly uplifitng stories, and clearly go against the grain of our current American optimism. If I have a criticism, it's that a few of the stories seem redundant. I would like to see more by Saunders, but only if he has something more to say. It's hard to imagine he could express his world-view any better than he's done already.
Rating: 
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST
Review: These days it's understandable if you feel a bit reluctant when you pick up a debut short story collection, leaf through it and find that they're all in first-person, and in (a form of) present tense, to boot! But trust me, dear reader, dear serious reader, when I tell you to read forth. Saunders puts on an amazing performance. The work of Stanley Elkin comes to mind. And it seems that Saunders is living up to this "early promise": Saunders' stories have appeared in each of the last THREE _Prize Stories: O. Henry Awards_ books. I just can't wait for something lengthy (yes, yes! a novel! please) by this satirist par excellence. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: These stories are simply amazing. They are filled with dark scenes and grim thoughts. One minute they will make you laugh and the next, your conscience will reprimand you for your laughter. They teach, they amuse, they sadden, they delight. Wow. I recommend them to anyone who likes to think.
Rating:
Summary: A new direction
Review: This collection of short stories (along with the more recent "Pastoralia" collection) will define the course of short fiction in America for years to come. The voice, thematic relevance in all these stories hit home without mercy. No one has written fiction like this, in such a way. Only comparable writers that come to mind are Mark Leyner (who's as funny as Saunders but doesn't bring his stories together as him) David Foster Wallace (too self-engrossed) and Dave Eggers. Odd situations and hallucinatory scenes abound. But they all serve to comment on the modern-day human condition, and they serve that purpose devastatingly. All the characters in these stories are the 'losers' of this world. No one has written about them with more sympathy and candor than Saunders. He doesn't reduce these poor people as caricatured vehicles for his humor, but uses their humanity to point his finger at the laughable veneer of vanity/egotism that envelops the modern American society. A chilling, sad, human collection of stories.
Rating:
Summary: A new direction
Review: This collection of short stories (along with the more recent "Pastoralia" collection) will define the course of short fiction in America for years to come. The voice, thematic relevance in all these stories hit home without mercy. No one has written fiction like this, in such a way. Only comparable writers that come to mind are Mark Leyner (who's as funny as Saunders but doesn't bring his stories together as him) David Foster Wallace (too self-engrossed) and Dave Eggers. Odd situations and hallucinatory scenes abound. But they all serve to comment on the modern-day human condition, and they serve that purpose devastatingly. All the characters in these stories are the 'losers' of this world. No one has written about them with more sympathy and candor than Saunders. He doesn't reduce these poor people as caricatured vehicles for his humor, but uses their humanity to point his finger at the laughable veneer of vanity/egotism that envelops the modern American society. A chilling, sad, human collection of stories.
Rating:
Summary: A great book to turn friends on to...
Review: This is a fantastic look at a future America that is not quite a nightmare yet; however it is a fevered night-sweat full of tossing and turning on sticky polyester blankets. George Saunders has created a world solely his own, where everything is a scam and the hucksters are everywhere; from the wave-pool to the museums to the theme parks. Everything is for sale and the price is reasonable. Just don't look too closely or you'll notice that the merry facades hide some sinister secrets. This is one of my favorite books of the last several years and is at the top of my recommended reading list; but beware, this is the type of book that people tend to forget to return. I'd suggest purchasing several copies and, with the holidays approaching, give them as gifts. Trust me, it'll be appreciated. Ray Schmitz III
Rating:
Summary: New Classics in Short-Story Writing
Review: This short fiction is the best published in years. Readers of David Foster Wallace and Rick Moody will find much to enjoy here, but Saunders' fresh voice is all his own. His views on the near future are apocalyptic (of course, they would be), archly amusing, and (most surprising) humane. I especially enjoyed the title story, "The 400-Pound CEO," "Downtrodden Mary's Failed Campaign of Terror," and the novella "Bounty" (satire worthy of Voltaire). I can't wait to read more by this writer. This book is a genuine treat.
Rating:
Summary: A near masterpiece
Review: Very few writers can succeed in being compassionate without being sentimental, hilarious without losing any emotional impact. Although Saunders overuses certain comic effects and can occasionally settle for simple cleverness, the best of these stories (The 400-Pound CEO, especially) are up there with the best tragicomedy ever written, with Beckett and Elkin. And they can actually succeed - outmoded as the idea of moral fiction is -in making you a little more humane.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant voice
Review: What makes these stories work is the voice. There is a clear authorial voice here, one which remains familiar without becoming grating. Occasionally the stories miss the mark ("The Wavemaker Falters") but mostly they're dead on. Saunders manages to convey a sense of melancholy and decay that's just perfect.
If you came to buy this collection after hearing "Offloading for Mrs Schwartz" on This American Life, hesitate no longer. Buy the book.
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