A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

George Saunders teaches a class on Russian short stories at Syracuse, and this book is essentially that class in written form. He takes seven stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, and shows you how they work.

What I love about Saunders as a teacher is that he's not prescriptive. He doesn't say "here's how to write." He says "here's what I notice, here's what I think is happening, what do you think?"

The close readings are illuminating. He'll spend pages on a single paragraph, showing how each sentence advances the story, builds character, creates tension. It makes you realize how much craft goes into what appears effortless.

But beyond the craft lessons, this is also a book about why fiction matters. About how stories can make us more human by forcing us to inhabit other minds.

I've returned to this book several times already.