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Cuentos escogidos
Los grandes relatos del "mejor cuentista actual en lengua inglesa" (Time), por primera vez reunidos en una colección imprescindible.
«Somos afortunados por tenerle.» Jonathan Franzen
«Saunders es completamente único. No hay nadie mejor ni tan necesario.» Dave Eggers
«Un escritor moralmente apasionado.» Zadie smith
Con relatos de sus colecciones más icónicas, de Guerracivilandia en ruinas a Pastoralia o El día de la liberación, la edición en tapa dura de los Cuentos escogidos de George Saunders es tanto un regalo estupendo para sus admiradores como la mejor puerta de entrada a su obra para aquellos que aún no hayan disfrutado de sus textos.
En esta antología, una edición exclusiva en castellano, asoman todas las constantes que han hecho célebre al su humor, ingenio y subversión, pero también su mirada ácida y certera sobre la ética, la justicia y una sociedad decadente.
«Somos afortunados por tenerle.» Jonathan Franzen
«Saunders es completamente único. No hay nadie mejor ni tan necesario.» Dave Eggers
«Un escritor moralmente apasionado.» Zadie smith
Con relatos de sus colecciones más icónicas, de Guerracivilandia en ruinas a Pastoralia o El día de la liberación, la edición en tapa dura de los Cuentos escogidos de George Saunders es tanto un regalo estupendo para sus admiradores como la mejor puerta de entrada a su obra para aquellos que aún no hayan disfrutado de sus textos.
En esta antología, una edición exclusiva en castellano, asoman todas las constantes que han hecho célebre al su humor, ingenio y subversión, pero también su mirada ácida y certera sobre la ética, la justicia y una sociedad decadente.
632 pages, Hardcover
Published November 12, 2025
About the author
George Saunders
112 books11.6k followersGeorge Saunders was born December 2, 1958 and raised on the south side of Chicago. In 1981 he received a B.S. in Geophysical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. He worked at Radian International, an environmental engineering firm in Rochester, NY as a technical writer and geophysical engineer from 1989 to 1996. He has also worked in Sumatra on an oil exploration geophysics crew, as a doorman in Beverly Hills, a roofer in Chicago, a convenience store clerk, a guitarist in a Texas country-and-western band, and a knuckle-puller in a West Texas slaughterhouse.
After reading in People magazine about the Master's program at Syracuse University, he applied. Mr. Saunders received an MA with an emphasis in creative writing in 1988. His thesis advisor was Doug Unger.
He has been an Assistant Professor, Syracuse University Creative Writing Program since 1997. He has also been a Visiting Writer at Vermont Studio Center, University of Georgia MayMester Program, University of Denver, University of Texas at Austin, St. Petersburg Literary Seminar (St. Petersburg, Russia, Summer 2000), Brown University, Dickinson College, Hobart & William Smith Colleges.
He conducted a Guest Workshop at the Eastman School of Music, Fall 1995, and was an Adjunct Professor at Saint John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, 1990-1995; and Adjunct Professor at Siena College, Loudonville, New York in Fall 1989.
He is married and has two children.
His favorite charity is a project to educate Tibetan refugee children in Nepal. Information on this can be found at http://www.tibetan-buddhist.org/index...
After reading in People magazine about the Master's program at Syracuse University, he applied. Mr. Saunders received an MA with an emphasis in creative writing in 1988. His thesis advisor was Doug Unger.
He has been an Assistant Professor, Syracuse University Creative Writing Program since 1997. He has also been a Visiting Writer at Vermont Studio Center, University of Georgia MayMester Program, University of Denver, University of Texas at Austin, St. Petersburg Literary Seminar (St. Petersburg, Russia, Summer 2000), Brown University, Dickinson College, Hobart & William Smith Colleges.
He conducted a Guest Workshop at the Eastman School of Music, Fall 1995, and was an Adjunct Professor at Saint John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, 1990-1995; and Adjunct Professor at Siena College, Loudonville, New York in Fall 1989.
He is married and has two children.
His favorite charity is a project to educate Tibetan refugee children in Nepal. Information on this can be found at http://www.tibetan-buddhist.org/index...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 21, 2026
Le escuché decir a George Saunders en su substack que él quería ser como una especie de diseñador de montañas rusas, de forma que al final de cada cuento el lector exclamase un "Holy shit!".
No ha sido el caso. Me he reído a veces, sí, pero no son cuentos sutiles. Se pasan de satíricos y me han resultado muy forzados. Como esos tipos que te cuentan un chiste tras otro, y otro tras otro, y no tienen puñetera gracia.
No ha sido el caso. Me he reído a veces, sí, pero no son cuentos sutiles. Se pasan de satíricos y me han resultado muy forzados. Como esos tipos que te cuentan un chiste tras otro, y otro tras otro, y no tienen puñetera gracia.
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April 28, 2026Solo acabé los cuentos que me estaban gustabdo. Todos cuentan la historia de un hombre patético con un trabajo patético y llega el punto en que Saunders no sabe dotarlos de interés. Todos también se basan en un discurso político obvio, a menudo debajo de un futuro falso y acartonado.
Sin embargo, en ocasiones, la berborrea mental con la que narra es efectiva. Los que terminé tienen en común buenos personajes secundarios que conoces a pesar del punto de vista narcisista de los protagonistas.
Los que merecieron la pena y recuerdo por nombre: Guerracivilismo en crisis, el presidente no se qué, Palos (dura dos caras y es mi favorito), Escapar de la cabeza de araña y Diez de diciembre.
Sin embargo, en ocasiones, la berborrea mental con la que narra es efectiva. Los que terminé tienen en común buenos personajes secundarios que conoces a pesar del punto de vista narcisista de los protagonistas.
Los que merecieron la pena y recuerdo por nombre: Guerracivilismo en crisis, el presidente no se qué, Palos (dura dos caras y es mi favorito), Escapar de la cabeza de araña y Diez de diciembre.
April 4, 2026
Leí “Lincoln en el bardo” hace mucho y me encantó, pero no ha sido lo mismo con esta recopilación. Tiene algunas ideas buenas que destacan en tres o cuatro de los cuentos más breves. Me ha sorprendido gratamente la capacidad que tiene para narrar el flujo de pensamiento de algunos personajes, como en el cuento de “La cascada” o “Diez de diciembre”. El resto son bastante repetitivos (tema, personajes, escenas…) y demasiado largos.
September 16, 2025
Ask the Optimist! By George Saunders
This short story could be a take on Panglossian views, or on positivism in general.
It may also be just a humorous account, without a judgment on optimism.
After all, the Optimist is rather sarcastic, very often.
This could be exactly the idea...optimists are seen by some men and women as just ruthless, heartless people who do not care that the world is facing the End.
The first few exchanges between the Optimist and his audience are benign.
A woman is asking about...bonnets.
True, when talking about her husband and the convertible he has just bought, knowing that the spouse loves the bonnets, gruesome truths are revealed.
The convertible is just a song, but the guy is a maniac keen on making the wife suffer, causing her pain after she was burned on ninety per cent of her body.
Notwithstanding this cruel aspect, the Optimist has a funny solution...
- Buy many bonnets and whenever one is lost, just replace it.
Optimism is taken lightly here, but I must say that I have been reading positive psychology over the past few years and learned that to be optimistic is extremely important.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that this category of men and women lives longer, healthier lives.
Their professional and private lives enjoy more achievements.
When they get sick, which happens to them less often than to the pessimists, it will last the for shorter periods than it takes the less optimistic humans.
Positive people have a wider perspective, literally and physically.
I will mention one test, made by looking at the diaries kept by nuns of the order of Notre Dame.
Those who noted down events with optimistic, positive terms lived nine years longer than their less optimistic colleagues.
You could read the works of luminaries like Tal Ben-Shahar, Professor at Harvard, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ed Diener, Martin Seligman, Shawn Achor and others, for more information on the subject.
As for the Optimist of George Saunders, he is asked about lemons and surprisingly, he does not recommend making lemonade with them.
The following question is an invitation to laugh, even if it might not be politically correct or polite.
A man says that his wife is a good artist, but she painted his portrait and he looks like a frog...
- "Your legs are squat, your face is the face of a frog, your feet are reptilian, your expression is smug and pinched! Your wife is a terrific artist!"
The Optimist has sent this reply, after having a detective check the situation.
Zoos and the welfare of animals are the subject of the next interrogation.
Yes, in many places the conditions are barbaric, but on the other hand, I have read in The Life of Pi that animals are under continuous stress in the wild...
They need to find food and most of them try to avoid their predators, so the idea that they are all enjoying paradise only when released in nature might not be 100% accurate.
When a politician who appears to be the top leader asks a question, I thought of Trump.
For so many people, this man represents all that is wrong with democracy, especially in a system which allowed his election, in spite of the fact that he lost the popular vote by a considerable margin.
He is foolish, arrogant, self obsessed, a confirmed and pathetic liar-only very little of what he says is true, it is not like he makes a mistake once in a while.
Ruthless, vengeful, impredictable, dishonest, vulgar-grabbing pussy- incompetent, superficial, narcissistic.
This is the worst possible choice and it tells a lot about his supporters.
Further down the line, the Optimist in the story becomes obnoxious.
To someone writing from Africa he shows no compassion.
He just boasts that there are few people living in terrible conditions.
Therefore the Optimist would again be defined as someone who does not care.
This would be wrong, for the optimist is the one who makes the lives of those around him better.
Being near negative men and women makes you become pessimistic with dire consequences.
Ask the Optimist! Is a wondrous narrative.
This short story could be a take on Panglossian views, or on positivism in general.
It may also be just a humorous account, without a judgment on optimism.
After all, the Optimist is rather sarcastic, very often.
This could be exactly the idea...optimists are seen by some men and women as just ruthless, heartless people who do not care that the world is facing the End.
The first few exchanges between the Optimist and his audience are benign.
A woman is asking about...bonnets.
True, when talking about her husband and the convertible he has just bought, knowing that the spouse loves the bonnets, gruesome truths are revealed.
The convertible is just a song, but the guy is a maniac keen on making the wife suffer, causing her pain after she was burned on ninety per cent of her body.
Notwithstanding this cruel aspect, the Optimist has a funny solution...
- Buy many bonnets and whenever one is lost, just replace it.
Optimism is taken lightly here, but I must say that I have been reading positive psychology over the past few years and learned that to be optimistic is extremely important.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that this category of men and women lives longer, healthier lives.
Their professional and private lives enjoy more achievements.
When they get sick, which happens to them less often than to the pessimists, it will last the for shorter periods than it takes the less optimistic humans.
Positive people have a wider perspective, literally and physically.
I will mention one test, made by looking at the diaries kept by nuns of the order of Notre Dame.
Those who noted down events with optimistic, positive terms lived nine years longer than their less optimistic colleagues.
You could read the works of luminaries like Tal Ben-Shahar, Professor at Harvard, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ed Diener, Martin Seligman, Shawn Achor and others, for more information on the subject.
As for the Optimist of George Saunders, he is asked about lemons and surprisingly, he does not recommend making lemonade with them.
The following question is an invitation to laugh, even if it might not be politically correct or polite.
A man says that his wife is a good artist, but she painted his portrait and he looks like a frog...
- "Your legs are squat, your face is the face of a frog, your feet are reptilian, your expression is smug and pinched! Your wife is a terrific artist!"
The Optimist has sent this reply, after having a detective check the situation.
Zoos and the welfare of animals are the subject of the next interrogation.
Yes, in many places the conditions are barbaric, but on the other hand, I have read in The Life of Pi that animals are under continuous stress in the wild...
They need to find food and most of them try to avoid their predators, so the idea that they are all enjoying paradise only when released in nature might not be 100% accurate.
When a politician who appears to be the top leader asks a question, I thought of Trump.
For so many people, this man represents all that is wrong with democracy, especially in a system which allowed his election, in spite of the fact that he lost the popular vote by a considerable margin.
He is foolish, arrogant, self obsessed, a confirmed and pathetic liar-only very little of what he says is true, it is not like he makes a mistake once in a while.
Ruthless, vengeful, impredictable, dishonest, vulgar-grabbing pussy- incompetent, superficial, narcissistic.
This is the worst possible choice and it tells a lot about his supporters.
Further down the line, the Optimist in the story becomes obnoxious.
To someone writing from Africa he shows no compassion.
He just boasts that there are few people living in terrible conditions.
Therefore the Optimist would again be defined as someone who does not care.
This would be wrong, for the optimist is the one who makes the lives of those around him better.
Being near negative men and women makes you become pessimistic with dire consequences.
Ask the Optimist! Is a wondrous narrative.
February 12, 2026
Con las limitaciones estructurales básicas de un relato corto, leer los de Saunders es un auténtico gustazo. Desconozco si los que vienen en este volumen son los escogidos como 'mejores' ya que nunca había leído nada del autor, pero son una selección equilibrada, con algún pequeño altibajo (como es habitual en cualquier antología). Me encantaría leer algo en formato novela del autor, con páginas por delante para poder desarrollar esos fantásticos personajes.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews