George Saunders stopped by the Daily Show to discuss his latest novel, Vigil.
Saunders’ novel, published in January by Random House, follows Jill “Doll” Blaine, a dead woman sent from the afterlife to guide fractious oil mogul and climate-change denialist K.J. Boone through his death. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Saunders has crafted a novel that feels deeply resonant, especially in these fractious times.”
Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper said, “You show some empathy for this oil tycoon. Is this really the time for that, George?”
“To me, the interesting thing about this book was that if you’re a stinker—he’s really done bad things—how do you narrate that to yourself?” Saunders replied. “I don’t think it’s the Cruella de Vil school of evil where you’re like, I’m evil today, and I’m loving it! But there’s something going on.…How does he rationalize it?”
Klepper noted that he has a hard time according grace to people who’ve done bad things in an age devoid of accountability.
“The ultimate grace is to say, What you’re doing is cruel, and you can’t just keep doing it, and we’re going to stop you,” Saunders said. “For me, Minneapolis was a beautiful example of people saying, We’re not going to become violent, but we’re going to stop this. To me, there’s no real divide between compassion and firmness if you do it right.…For me, the whole thing in this really confusing shitshow is to say, Do I still have any clarity about what I really believe? Do I still believe in truth? Do I still believe in love? Do I still believe in community? For me, I’m thinking the big job is to keep that clear in my mind.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
