<p>Growing up, George Saunders was the eldest boy with younger sisters, in a family full of women who gave him praise and special treatment. That created the confidence that fueled his ambition to become a great writer.&nbsp;</p><p>In this lively interview, George talks about why that dream took decades to realize and what was essential to making it happen – including a karmic, three-week romance, a pivotal trip to the Afghanistan border during the Soviet war, and witnessing a “colossal fuck up” working in the oil fields of Indonesia.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>George’s newest novel, “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564991/vigil-by-george-saunders/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vigil</a>,” is out now and his substack is called <a href="https://georgesaunders.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Story Club</a>.</p><p>Podcast production by Andrew Dunn.</p><p>Death, Sex &amp; Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, <a href="http://slate.com/dsmplus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Slate Plus</a>! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at <a href="http://slate.com/dsmplus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slate.com/dsmplus</a>.</p><p>And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/deathsexmoney/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. </p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>