Recommendations
Books Like Tenth of December
Best books to read after Tenth of December by George Saunders
George Saunders's Tenth of December is his most celebrated story collection — satirical, funny, deeply empathic. These recommendations continue the Saunders canon, explore the contemporary American story tradition, or offer companion reading in the tradition of the morally serious comic short story.
- 1
Buy on AmazonLincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
The essential Saunders novel — Abraham Lincoln grieving in a Georgetown graveyard, hundreds of ghost voices, the Man Booker Prize winner that shows Saunders at novel length using the same formal inventiveness as his short fiction.
- 2
Buy on AmazonPastoralia
by George Saunders
The earlier Saunders collection — 'Sea Oak,' 'Winky,' and the title story, the best of his satirical theme park fiction, essential after Tenth of December for readers who want more Saunders.
- 3
Buy on AmazonA Visit from the Goon Squad
by Jennifer Egan
The Pulitzer Prize-winning companion in formal inventiveness — thirteen interconnected stories in the music industry, Egan's PowerPoint chapter and Saunders's near-future satire occupying the same space in contemporary American fiction.
- 4
Buy on AmazonJesus' Son
by Denis Johnson
The essential American story collection companion — eleven stories narrated by a nameless junkie, Johnson's prose as distinctive as Saunders's in a completely different register, both collections centered on the desperate edges of American life.
- 5
Buy on AmazonInterpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
The other celebrated contemporary American story collection — Lahiri's nine stories of the Indian diaspora in America and India, the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection that shows the full range of what the American story can be alongside Saunders's satire.
- 6
Buy on AmazonWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love
by Raymond Carver
The American story collection that most shaped the tradition Saunders works in — Carver's minimalism is the polar opposite of Saunders's verbal exuberance, but both writers are intensely focused on the working-class American experience and the moments when ordinary life reveals something unbearable.
- 7
Buy on AmazonThe Collected Stories
by Grace Paley
The New York story collection companion — Paley's Faith and her Bronx community, the feminist political American story that influenced Saunders's interest in giving voice to characters on the margins of American prosperity.
- 8
Buy on AmazonBloodchild and Other Stories
by Octavia E. Butler
The speculative story collection companion — Butler's 'Bloodchild' (Hugo and Nebula winner) and 'Speech Sounds,' the other essential American story collection of the late twentieth century for readers who want speculation alongside Saunders's satire.
More Tenth of December Resources
More Reading Recommendations
View all →Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.