{"product_id":"2940169382686","title":"Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe long-awaited first novel from the author of \u003ci\u003eTenth of December\u003c\/i\u003e: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFebruary 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. \"My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,\" the president says at the time. \"God has called him home.\" Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state-called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo-a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLincoln in the Bardo\u003c\/i\u003e is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 166-person full cast features award-winning actors and musicians, as well as a number of Saunders' family, friends, and members of his publishing team, including, in order of their appearance: \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nick Offerman as HANS VOLLMAN\u003cbr\u003e David Sedaris as ROGER BEVINS III\u003cbr\u003e Carrie Brownstein as ISABELLE PERKINS\u003cbr\u003e George Saunders as THE REVEREND EVERLY THOMAS\u003cbr\u003e Miranda July as MRS. ELIZABETH CRAWFORD\u003cbr\u003e Lena Dunham as ELISE TRAYNOR\u003cbr\u003e Ben Stiller as JACK MANDERS\u003cbr\u003e Julianne Moore as JANE ELLIS\u003cbr\u003e Susan Sarandon as MRS. ABIGAIL BLASS\u003cbr\u003e Bradley Whitford as LT. CECIL STONE\u003cbr\u003e Bill Hader as EDDIE BARON\u003cbr\u003e Megan Mullally as BETSY BARON\u003cbr\u003e Rainn Wilson as PERCIVAL \"DASH\" COLLIER\u003cbr\u003e Jeff Tweedy as CAPTAIN WILLIAM PRINCE\u003cbr\u003e Kat Dennings as MISS TAMARA DOOLITTLE\u003cbr\u003e Jeffrey Tambor as PROFESSOR EDMUND BLOOMER\u003cbr\u003e Mike O'Brien as LAWRENCE T. DECROIX\u003cbr\u003e Keegan-Michael Key as ELSON FARWELL\u003cbr\u003e Don Cheadle as THOMAS HAVENS\u003cbr\u003e and\u003cbr\u003e Patrick Wilson as STANLEY \"PERFESSER\" LIPPERT\u003cbr\u003e with\u003cbr\u003e Kirby Heyborne as WILLIE LINCOLN,\u003cbr\u003e Mary Karr as MRS. ROSE MILLAND,\u003cbr\u003e and Cassandra Campbell as Your Narrator\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for the audiobook\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lincoln in the Bardo\" sets a new standard for cast recordings in its structure, in its performances, and in its boldness. Now, let's see who answers the challenge.\" - \u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Like the novel, the audiobook breaks new ground in what can be accomplished through a story. It helps that there's not a single bad note in the cast of a whopping 166 people. It's also the rare phenomenon of an audiobook being a completely different experience compared to the novel. Even if you've read the novel, the audiobook is worth a listen (and vice versa). The whole project pushes the narrative form forward.\" - \u003ci\u003eA.V. Club\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"The result is an auditory experience unlike any other, where the awareness of individual voices disappears while the carefully calibrated soundscape summons a metaphysical masterpiece. This is a tour de force of audiobook production, and a dazzling realization of Saunders¿ unique authorial structure.¿-Booklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿The finished audiobook¿s tapestry of voices perfectly mirrors the novel.¿-\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for George Saunders\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿No one writes more powerfully than George Saunders about the lost, the unlucky, the disenfranchised.¿-Michiko Kakutani, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿Saunders makes you feel as though you are reading fiction for the first time.¿¿Khaled Hosseini\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿Few people cut as hard or deep as Saunders does.¿¿Junot Díaz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿George Saunders is a complete original. There is no one better, no one more essential to our national sense of self and sanity.¿¿Dave Eggers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿Not since Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.¿¿Zadie Smith\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿There is no one like him. He is an original¿but everyone knows that.¿¿Lorrie Moore\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿George Saunders makes the all-but-impossible look effortless. We¿re lucky to have him.¿¿Jonathan Franzen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e¿An astoundingly tuned voice¿graceful, dark, authentic, and funny¿telling just the kinds of stories we need to get us through these times.¿¿Thomas Pynchon","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47161872613616,"sku":"2940169382686","price":17.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169382686_p0.jpg?v=1763780998","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169382686","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}