This is the New Yorker Fiction Podcast from the New Yorker magazine.

I'm Deborah Treesman, fiction editor at The New Yorker.

Each month we invite a writer to choose a story from the magazine's archives to read and

discuss.

This month we're going to hear So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan, which was published

in the New Yorker in February of 2022.

It's at behind her on that first morning.

And while the introductory speaker, Jargon Dawn, he looked at the little buttons on the

back of her blouse wondering if she'd fasten them through the loops or so.

The story was chosen by George Saunders, the author of the novel Lincoln and the Bardot,

and five story collections, including 10th of December and Liberation Day, which came

out last year.

Hi George.

Hi Deborah, nice to be with you.

Welcome back.

So you were excited this time to choose a story by Claire Keegan for the podcast.

And I'm wondering if you can say a bit about what excites you in her writing.

Yeah, you know, I just heard her story Foster mentioned on the story club thing that I do

on Subdech and I went to get it.

And on the cover I saw the David Mitchell has said this was as good as Chekov.

And of course, pardon me, goes, huh.

And then I read Foster and I'm like, oh, yeah, actually, wow, what a story, you know,

...