First published 2021
George Saunders opens his classroom doors after two decades of teaching Russian short fiction at Syracuse University. He takes readers through seven masterworks by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, examining each story as a carefully built model of human experience. Saunders dissects how these writers tackle fundamental questions about how we should live and what we should value. He explains the mechanics of storytelling in clear terms, showing why certain passages grip us while others leave us cold. The book reveals writing as both technical skill and a method for seeing the world with fresh eyes. Saunders demonstrates how great stories create real human connection by training our minds to engage more deeply with experience. Through close reading of these Russian classics, he illuminates not just the craft of fiction but how our brains work when we read and why stories matter for understanding ourselves and others.
Genres: literary-fiction, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, literary-analysis
Setting: Russia, Syracuse University
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century, 21st-century
410 pages · Hardcover · Random House