I was raised Catholic,I took from that was a sense of theater and drama, and also the idea that there were truths that couldn't actually be uttered directly but really had to be reached through ritual. You come out of those Masses so moved, and you're like, "Why did that happen?" And the truth of it is that it happened through an hour of highly enacted ritual.
George SaundersOne of the sad things about this political season is that it allows [requires] us to get behind our big "Liberal" or "Conservative" banner and forget, for a time, that the big problems in our country have been around a long time and have been batted back and forth, caused and exacerbated, by both sides, and are more spiritual or ethical than [merely] political.
George SaundersThe millions or billions of micro decisions that you're going to make, that's what will determine who you are as a writer, not you deciding in advance.
George SaundersThat seems to be the definition of 'novel' for me: a story that hasn't yet discovered a way to be brief.
George Saunders