Ghosts and climate change are popular topics right now, so George Saunders is on trend in his 2026 novel Vigil. From a surface-level perspective, ghosts and climate change are what this book is about.
But from a higher-level perspective, the novel is not about ghosts or climate change at all. Like all great literature, Vigil operates on multiple levels of meaning. Its higher-level perspective is about the choices one makes in life; morality; and what qualifies as doing good in the world, versus what doesn’t.
Saunders’ philosophical conclusions are stupefyingly unsettling, not least because they are true.
Who Is George Saunders, and Where Does Vigil Fit into his Oeuvre?
George Saunders is an American novelist, one of our best living writers of fictional literature. His published works are mostly short stories and novellas, though recently he has forayed into full novels. His novel Lincoln in the Bardo was critically acclaimed. Now it has been adapted into an opera to be performed this fall at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
I have a soft spot for his shorter works, especially those about weird amusement parks gone wrong, or people stuck in bizarre and sometimes paranormal situations. I particularly recommend Liberation Day, his 2023 short story collection, as well as his novella Pastoralia. (Though you can’t go wrong with George Saunders; all of his books are excellent.)
Saunders is also known for his book dissecting Russian short stories, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. His analyses of these stories is brilliant and informative. I wrote about this book in this blog post from September 8, 2025. He also writes a popular Substack newsletter called Story Club with George Saunders.
One reason his writing is so fabulous is because it’s strikingly modern. It’s full of Americanisms and silly slang. It’s full of the weirdness of ordinary life, not to mention the weirdness of distinctly not ordinary life. His writing is humorous, witty, smart, and philosophical. But it’s also simple writing; you don’t have to be a genius or a walking dictionary to understand it.
A Brief Review of Vigil by George Saunders
Here was my experience of reading Vigil:
Most of the way through, I was uncertain about whether I liked it. The characters were weird and unlikable. I wasn’t sure why the characters were acting the way they were. The ghost characters were not behaving like any ghost I had ever heard of; what was motivating them? The human characters were more or less insufferable. And climate change as a topic has become, let’s be honest, a bit clichéd, not to mention a real downer.
But then I got to the final pages of the novel. (This is a short book, only 174 pages long. It doesn’t take long to get to the end.)
I cannot emphasize enough how brilliant, creative, and unclichéd the ending of this novel is. All the pieces came together. Holy smokes of climate change combustion—I was blown away!
What had at first seemed like a humdrum story about ghosts and climate change transformed into a philosophical reflection about life, the universe, and everything, with a healthy dose of spirituality thrown into the mix.
Well done, George Saunders.
Friends, I wish I could tell you what this novel is really about (hint: not ghosts or climate change) and what conclusions it comes to, but that would be a major spoiler. You’ll have to read the book for yourself.
A Quote from Vigil by George Saunders, to Give You a Feel for Its Style and Voice
The protagonist is a young woman who is a ghost, having died tragically and humorously (that is, if you find morbid humor humorous, which I must admit that I do).
At one point early in the novel, she describes her own gravesite, and then she goes on to say something interesting. Indeed, her words are extremely interesting—assuming you are reading from the perspective of a living person, as opposed to a dead one:
“But (joy, joy!) that hideous figure was not me, not anymore; nor was I the woman that figure had been when vital, i.e., before her demise, odiously burdened with her stunted diction, her limited view, her nominal ability to comprehend, her constrained love . . . No: this, this now, was me: vast, unlimited in the range and delicacy of my voice, unrestrained in love, rapid in apprehension, skillful in motion . . .”
As a ghost she is more capable, more aware, than when alive. Saunders embellishes on this idea all the way until his dramatic conclusion.
Thank You to the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore
A big thanks to the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore for hosting George Saunders last February. I attended the event for free and even received a copy of Vigil for free, thanks to a generous donor. It was delightful to hear Saunders speak. He’s witty and wise in person, as he is on the page.
One thing he talked about is, as a younger man, wanting to write like Ernest Hemingway. He said he only found his voice when he starting writing like himself. This is great advice for writing—and life.
Friends, I’m proud to be (like Saunders!) part of the Writers LIVE! series at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. I’ll be speaking at the Light Street branch on Thursday, April 16 at 6:30pm about my book Two Novembers. Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets chronicles my love life for one year, in Shakespearean sonnets. I invite you to attend! All the details are here.
A Final Reflection on Vigil by George Saunders
Here on earth, with our “limited view,” “nominal ability to comprehend,” and “constrained love,” can we yet see beyond?
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