Saunders himself describes this as a "children's story about genocide" (see "Why I Wrote Phil").

Entertaining, if light, political allegory.

Personal Preface:I will begin with something that is sure to become dated very quickly, but the date on which the review is posted can be seen in the top right corner of the review anyway, like a school paper, so I suppose it can become an electronic time capsule, as everything already is on the internet. So far, not much, I said to myself after asking what I’ve accomplished this night. I'm having one of my strange vibes, even though vibes are abstract concepts. Vines aren’t, they’re tangible, b...

I have had Phil on my list now for years. A very long time. So long that it first appeared on a list I kept in a Moleskin because I wasn’t on gr just yet. I find it on a page which also contains the titles Omega Minor and At Swim, Two Boys (with a note on the latter, “1st edition only--prefatory difficult Irish (drunkard)”). I’ve read the prior and acquired the latter (in the correct edition). Apparently I’m mistaken as to how and why Saunders first got added to my legendary list. The context is...

Quite possibly the most eccentric and insightful book I’ve read in a long time. It’s a brilliant allegory of human nature, kind of a highbrow Butter Battle Book. My favorite quote comes from the Creator who, after civilization eradicates itself, reanimates them with this directive: “This time, be kind to one another. Remember: each of you wants to be happy. And I want you to. Each of you are secretly afraid you are not good enough. But you are, trust me, you are” (127). If only we could take thi...

3.5. Bonkers but brilliant political satire wot was read to me in voice notes by my mate. An amusing experience.

Overly-obvious political parable featuring six inhabitants of an increasingly impoverished and minuscule nation. My favorite part was the Kellerites and their Enjoyment statistics. My least favorite aspect was meanie Phil's falling-out brain.

A book perhaps more relevant to today than when it was written in 2005. Phil is a funny and disturbing novella that has all of the allegorical and satirical charm of Animal Farm. The cult of personality, the corrupting influence of power, the failure of a people to stand up to oppression before it’s too late are all themes that manifest in Phil. As far as the writing goes, Saunders is tight and doesn’t waste any time over the 130 pages. Imagery is clear and shocking (where it needs to be) and th...

A horribly failed experiment. The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil is thirteen dollars for eighty pages, partnered with abstract photos to try and illucidate what is ultimately a too-abstract text. For someone who adores being challenged I was forced to bite my tongue about "never being challenged enough" - the absolute inaccessibility of this text was mind-blowing.The plot itself is water thin. A weak attempt at a dogmatic strike once more for a more socialist formation of democracy, arguing...

Ok yes, Saunders in fable/allegory mode is not as great as Saunders writing stories about flesh-and-blood characters. And the concept here could play like the most obvious, bush-league satire ever. But I really dug this because it's still a book that only George Saunders could have written. His uniquely stylized dialogue, his anger toward societal injustice, his empathy for emotional turmoil, his boundless imagination, his cracked and hilarious sense of humor--it's all here, in concentrated form...

Ok cool. So...PSA: George Saunders can predict the future. This was published in 2005, people. TRUMP HAS ALWAYS BEEN HERE.

A witty and scary parable for the current political climate. A slippery slide can't even be stopped by divine intervention it seems, with us and them perpetually at odds.Strength is, sir, and I expect always will be, a lure for the ambitious and clever.Amazingly this was written in 2005 by George Saunders far before Trump, hence making comparisons with Animal Farm more poignant. In a fairytale manner The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil tells the story of inner and outer Horner handling a dec...

ida know. i love george saunders, but this one was just too lightweight for me. i wish i could just stand behind anything george saunders did, but i must remain objective and trustworthy, because of the importance of goodreads.com reviews.come to my blog!

“Our country is big, let us be big.”- George SaundersThis novella is one part Animal Farm, one part Gulliver's Travels. Part parable, part satire, it is (not to give to much of too little away) a short novella about border disputes, leadership, the media, and standing up to oppression. It was published in 2005 under the GWB administration, but feels (because of global border disputes) more relevant today in 2019 than even it was in 2005. It is cute, at times funny, quick, and narratively interes...

The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil is a satire and political allegory that I picked up a few weeks ago, not knowing how prophetic it was going to turn out to be. In this surrealistic novella, Phil, an opportunist and demagogue, takes control of the nation of Outer Horner by appealing to nationalistic feelings and scapegoating immigrants.The world in the story is bizarre and surreal. Inside the country of Outer Horner lies Inner Horner, a nation so small that it can only hold one citizen at

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFxG_...Satirical fiction a-la Abbott's Flatland meets Calvino's Cosmicomics. As The Times said "it's relevant, but not too relevant," and that's the novella's best asset: it clearly shows the absurdity of something, but not something so clearly specific as to make this book a political statement. It's just a great book instead.

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)I had the pleasure of getting to talk with legendary author George Saunders for CCLaP's podcast last week, a rare treat given how in demand he is on this latest tour even among the major media; but that meant I had to do some serious cramming in the few weeks leading up to our talk, in that (I guiltily con...

This is the story of the residents of Inner and Outer Horner, the former of which consist of seven people, only one of which can fit into Inner Horner at any given time, and the latter who are persuaded by a despot (who has a nasty habit of getting excited and having his brain fall off of its rack) to oppress the Inner Hornerites. It all comes when outer horner is inadvertantly invaded by inner hornerites after their pint sized country inexplicably shrinks and some of them fall across the offici...

Power doesn't just corrupt. Power is corrupt. Inherently all too often. And assured in power, it's all too easy for a stronger nation or people to blame a weaker for its misfortunes, and take its state as justification not only in denying aid, but heaping further misfortune. The exploited will continue to be easy targets for exploitation. This minimal, absurd fable would seem to be a bit too on-the-nose if we weren't doing exactly this, as a nation, at the present moment. Now more than ever, and...

A few people seem disappointed with this, and I was for a while, but once I'd finished I actually really liked it. Of course it's funny, and of course it's biting, but it's even more allegorical than the other Saunders I've read. The blurb on my edition call it a fable, and I think that's about right. Just when you think you've got it all worked out, and that it's a bit obvious, the story twists around and becomes much more mysterious than it otherwise would be. It looks, to begin with, like a b...