Genius Quote by Jeffrey Tambor
“George Saunders's 'Lincoln in the Bardo' is a hands-down masterpiece - the subject of Abraham Lincoln and the genius of this author is a perfect union.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, 2017
The novel blends history and imagination, showing how grief and legacy intertwine.
In simple terms: History meets imagination in a moving story.
Key Takeaway
Explore grief through creative storytelling.
Themes
history
grief
literature
legacy
imagination
Mood
contemplative
hopeful
Type
literary
critical
When to use this quote
- reading groups
- teaching history
- writing workshops
Key Concepts
narrative structure
afterlife
empathy
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the afterlife represent in personal loss?
- How does humor affect mourning?
A Different Perspective
The blend may oversimplify complex historical facts.
![“Something in me was changed by Lincoln in the Bardo, and the great sublime/grotesque risk of [George Saunders'] ghosts was a part of it.” quote by Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c50/zadie-smith-584_changed_something-in-me-was-changed-by-lincoln-i_2919261.jpg)
![“The beginning [of Lincoln in the Bardo] is strange, and I did a lot of work calibrating that so that a reader with a certain level of patience would get through it and in the nick of time start to figure out what was going on. In a short book, you can do that.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9f9/george-saunders-317_beginning_the-beginning-of-lincoln-in-the-bardo-is_3025267.jpg)
![“There was one sequence of days [making Lincoln in the Bardo] when I had halfway decided to use the historical nuggets, but I wasn't quite sure it would work. I'd be in my room for six or seven hours, cutting up bits of paper with quotes and arranging them on the floor, with this little voice in my…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e44/george-saunders-317_arranging_there-was-one-sequence-of-days-making-li_3016056.jpg)
![“[Lincoln in the Bardo] is not a long book. And that meant I could obsess over it and live in it both backwards and forwards and hyper-control everything.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/afc/george-saunders-317_backwards_lincoln-in-the-bardo-is-not-a-long-book_2176474.jpg)
![“While writing this book [Lincoln in the Bardo], [idea of inclusion] occurred to me, you either believe in the Constitution or you don't. If you do, it's intense in what it wants of us.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/367/george-saunders-317_believe_while-writing-this-book-lincoln-in-the-b_2048122.jpg)
![“The last page of [Lincoln in the Bardo] - without giving too much away - involves somebody entering somebody else. Not in a sexual way. But it says one of the simplest things you could ever say, which is that we must try and be inside each other. We must have some kind of feeling for each other…” quote by Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bae/zadie-smith-584_entering_the-last-page-of-lincoln-in-the-bardo-wi_1986495.jpg)
![“Whole swaths of the book [Lincoln in the Bardo] are made up of verbatim quotes from various historical sources, which I cut up and rearranged to form part of the narrative.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f08/george-saunders-317_book_whole-swaths-of-the-book-lincoln-in-the_1268701.jpg)
![“The book says [Lincoln in the Bardo],"I really need this sci-fi device of a ghost inhabiting another person." You say okay kind of begrudgingly. So the structure seemed informed by need and efficiency.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/336/george-saunders-317_book_the-book-says-lincoln-in-the-bardo-i-rea_759066.jpg)
![“As the writer of this book [Lincoln in the Bardo], what I loved was the feeling of having so many surprises come at the end that I hadn't really planned or planted.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/869/george-saunders-317_book_as-the-writer-of-this-book-lincoln-in-th_507145.jpg)
![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
