A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

“Brilliant and entertaining book on how to write better through the study of Russian short story”

“George Saunders writes a book about his Russian short story seminar. He’s a great writer and teacher, and if you’re interested in storytelling that should be enough. BUT the example stories he chooses are incredible and heartbreaking. The audiobook features moving performances for the example stories and a terrific performance from the author himself, trying to keep his advice practical and down to earth as the subject gets more and more complex and real and heartbreaking. Cannot recommend this highly enough.”

“George's writing is a joy in any format, and he always gets great actors for his audiobooks. But this one is something special: Rainn Wilson reading Gogol's "The Nose," Glenn Close reading Chekhov's "The Darling," and then George himself coming in to talk about why each story works. It felt like sitting in on the best class I never took.”

“Take a class with one of the great writing teachers of our time.”

“Like going back to college, in a good way.”

“On-hand MFA”

“The best book I’ve read on writing. Going slowly as I dip my toe into some short story writing.”

“Master class in short fiction writing and reading.”

“A book about writing that changed the way I read.”