1) In the Garden of the North American Martyrs - Tobias Wolff (a book that convinced Saunders to study with Wolff at Syracuse University, where Saunders still works today) 2) The Coast of Chicago - Stuart Dybek's short story collection 3) Dispatches - Michael Herr's Vietnam memoir 4) The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison, 5) The Red Cavalry - Isaac Babel, 6) The Portable Chekhov - Anton Chekhov, and 7) Dead Souls - Nicolai Gogol.
The author of Lincoln in the Bardo recommends:
1) In the Garden of the North American Martyrs - Tobias Wolff (a book
that convinced Saunders to study with Wolff at Syracuse University,
where Saunders still works today)
2) The Coast of Chicago - Stuart Dybek's short story collection
3) Dispatches - Michael Herr's Vietnam memoir
4) The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison,
5) The Red Cavalry - Isaac Babel,
6) The Portable Chekhov - Anton Chekhov, and
7) Dead Souls - Nicolai Gogol.