By TESSA YANG
COLUMNIST
Civilwarland in Bad Decline
By George Saunders
Welcome to dystopian USA, where the Walmarts are gutted, the gangs are formidable, and the wealthy find solace from it all in underfunded theme parks. In a darkly comic world such as this, surprises lurk around every corner. It would not, for example, be improbable to stumble upon a boneless girl, a corrupt raccoon “emancipation” service, a machine that sucks out memories, and a Civil War-era ghost—yes, the actual floating kind, with dreary recollections of Antietam and a ghostly wife you might see fit to delight with a Rubix Cube.
These absurdities appear early-on in the collection and sustain themselves right through to the final page, so if holograms and haunted theme parks are not to your liking, you can jump ship after your first taste with the assurance that it only would have gotten much, much weirder. If, on the other hand, you enjoy a little foray with the fantastic, you’re in for a treat. Saunders’ vision of America as one massive dysfunctional theme park is neither frivolous nor unfounded (though it is, at times, very funny). He evokes some our nation’s greatest historical shames, but adds a toxic dose of modernity to remind us how dangerously poised we are to relive past mistakes. The slave trade, for example, is alive and well in this dystopia, only now it specializes in the abuse of the genetically Flawed by the genetically Normal. In a similar fashion, contemporary features like corporate bullying, virtual reality, and widespread gang violence serve to recollect an era of dominion and servitude that America had supposedly left far behind. Civilwarland in Bad Decline is a smart read. It taps into some deep-set anxieties about our nation’s future, but in a way that is neither pretentious nor wholeheartedly without mercy.
I truly enjoyed all of the stories in this collection, but I think the novella, “Bounty,” deserves special mention. Perhaps it was just the timing: by the end of the six short stories, I was fully captivated by Saunders’ dystopian universe and craving a more generous depiction of it. Cue 90-page novella, where Saunders explores the rival classes of Flaweds and Normals and a brother’s determination to liberate his sister. “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz” was probably my favorite of the short stories, because it so perfectly embodied that tragicomic mode where Saunders is at his best. But, as already indicated, the entire collection is excellent and there was not a single piece I could have done without. I recommend Civilwarland in Bad Decline to Vonnegut fans or anyone generally interested in bizarre, illuminating fiction.