Against 'Kindness'

George Saunders is known as a proponent of kindness, both in his persona and in his books. He is often referred to as the nicest guy in fiction, and is credited for developing a style of freewheeling, non-realist satire that softens up the reader with shock tactics and then sucker punches him with a call for better behavior. The work is original, and Saunders has been hugely influential. So upon the publication of his latest collection of stories, Liberation Day, it seems fair to ask, only partially in jest: Why isn’t it working?