CivilWarLand in Bad Decline Summary
George Saunders

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline Overview

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline is a collection of short stories by George Saunders. The stories utilize both humorous elements and urgent emotional undertones in order to address dynamics of personal and societal dysfunction. Some of the stories use genre elements, such as science-fiction, in service of their stories and themes. A concept that runs strongly through all of the stories is the necessity of kindness and the evils of cruelty and selfishness. The collection explores other themes as well, including capitalism, morality, society, and isolation.