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Boots!

Where would we be without books?

Where would we be without good?

No, Timberg.

It's a rhetorical question, sir.

But where would we be without books?

From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Michael Silverblatt.

This is Bookworm, and welcome with me my guest, George Saunders.

This is for me a special occasion because I've been talking to George

since I think his first book of stories came out. How many years later? Since 1996, whatever that

math is. 21 years later, this Lincoln and the Bardo, is his first novel.

And I, you know, opinions mean nothing.

I hope in the course of listening to the program, you'll be convinced.

I think this is his very best book.

I think that somehow or other, the intensity, integrity, responsibility, and concern for life have landed in this book and made it into an American work of spiritual literature.

If we have inherited the Tibetan Book of the Dead, this is the American Book of the Dead. And I wanted to begin by asking you,

this is such a different book. How did you go about it?

Well, it was partly a long germination. I'd heard the idea many, many years ago and just was like, I don't think I can

do that. And then, so in a sense, I think I kind of, you know, as a person and artistically kind of

grew, grew, grew, grew, grew. And then at some point it seemed like it might be doable. So really,

it was the same, I'd say the same artistic method as I'd always used in the past,

...