George Saunders Reads “The Mom of Bold Action”

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Fiction, Authors, Arts, New, Newyorker, Yorker

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

George Saunders reads his story “The Mom of Bold Action,” from the August 30, 2021, issue of the magazine. Saunders won the Man Booker Prize in 2017 for his novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo.” He is the author of four story collections, including “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” and “Tenth of December.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the writer's voice, new fiction from The New Yorker, and Deputy Treaseman fiction editor at The New Yorker.
0:12.0	On this episode of The writer's voice, we'll hear George Saunders read his story, The Mom of Bold Action, from the August 30th, 2021 issue of the magazine.
0:21.0	Saunders won the Man Booker Prize in 2017 for his novel Lincoln in the Bardot.
0:26.0	He's the author of four story collections, including Civil Warland and Bad Decline, and 10th of December.
0:33.0	Now here's George Saunders.
0:40.0	The Mom of Bold Action
0:43.0	Again, she found herself spending her precious morning writing time, pacing her lovable style of a kitchen making no progress at all.
0:51.0	Why was she holding a can opener?
0:54.0	Hmm, that could be something.
0:57.0	The trusty little opener.
0:59.0	Gerard the can opener was a dreamer.
1:02.0	He wanted to open big things, bigger things, the biggest things.
1:07.0	But all he ever got to open was beans, corn, tuna.
1:14.0	He had to give him something essential to open to save the day.
1:17.0	Medicine? Heart medicine?
1:20.0	You did not open heart medicine with a can opener.
1:23.0	Tomato paste.
1:25.0	Some beloved person in the household really longed for spaghetti.
1:29.0	Old Italian gal.
1:31.0	Friend to all.
1:33.0	On her last legs.
1:35.0	This spaghetti brought her back to Florence or whatever.
	...

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