For a few pages, I was under the impression that the “Nethers” were real. Carlson at first the same thing happened to me, but in a different way. The narrator absorbs each character’s idiosyncracies Robin is pretending he is talking to a girl he likes and that he is surrounded by supernatural woodland creatures and Don’s brain is failing because of illness. The narrator is a very close third person alternating between Robin and Don. Saunders’s story is a very interesting study. What happens when Robin falls into the freezing water? Robin takes a shortcut across a frozen pond. Unfortunately, Robin decides to try and do a good deed and bring it to him. Don leaves his coat on a chair to help the authorities locate his body. How are these two unrelated characters related? One of those good, old-fashioned twists of fate. Don is a middle-aged father who is suffering from cancer and is determined to commit suicide.

Saunders is a very influential man.Įlement of Craft We’re Stealing: Point of View (You know you love This American Life.) Yes, Mr.

(She makes interesting points about the POV and describes her understandable “struggle” with the story.) Here is Mr. Saunders discusses “Tenth of December.” Here is what blogger Karen Carlson thought about the story. Why not pick it up from an independent bookseller such as Reno, Nevada’s Grassroots Books? (They seem very cool!)īonuses: Here is an interview in which Mr. You can also find the story in the 2012 anthology of Best American Short Stories. Title of Work and its Form: “Tenth of December,” short story Author: George Saunders Date of Work: 2011 Where the Work Can Be Found: The story premiered in the Octoissue of The New Yorker.

Tenth of december new yorker