VIGIL transposes the reader, careening through the wild final evening of a complicated man. Visitors (worldly and other worldly, alive and dead) begin to arrive clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man's room. This powerful tale takes on the greatest issues of our time - the menace of corporate greed, the toll of capitalism, the environmental perils of progress - and in the process encompasses life and death, good and evil, and the thorny question of absolution.
THIS COPY will be hand signed by George Saunders on a page bound into the book. It is a new, unread, unopened first edition and comes with a certificate authenticating the signature. Published in January, 2026 by Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
GEORGE SAUNDERS (pictured below from our Wall of Fame) is on Time's list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. In addition to his numerous writing awards, including the Man Booker, he's at the top of the Booksmith's list of the nicest and most generous big-time writers in the world. Thank you George Saunders for signing our books.
THIS VIDEO (TOP) was taken at the store on February 21, 2017 as George Saunders read from Lincoln in the Bardo along with writers Patti Callahan Henry, Don Keith, Kerry Madden and Robert McCammon.
THIS VIDEO (BOTTOM) is an episode shown on the Public Broadcasting System author interview show BOOKMARK hosted by Emmy Award winner, Don Noble. It was shot at the store on February 21, 2017.
