Will Mackin joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Falls,” by George Saunders, which was published in The New Yorker in 1996. Mackin’s first book, “Bring Out the Dog,” was published in 2018 and won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection.
This is the New Yorker fiction podcast from the New Yorker magazine.
I'm Deborah Treisman, fiction editor at the New Yorker.
Each month, we invite a writer to choose a story from the magazine's archives to read and discuss.
This month, we're going to hear the falls by George Saunders, which was published in the New Yorker in January of 1996.
His childhood dreams had been so bright.
He had hoped for so much, it couldn't be true that he was a nobody.
Although on the other hand, what kind of somebody spends the best years of his life swearing at a photocopier?
Not that he was complaining, not that he was unaware.
He had plenty to be thankful for.
The story was chosen by Will Mackin, whose first book, Bring out the Dog, was published in 2018 and won the PEn Robert W.
Bingham Prize for debut short story collection.
Hi, Will.
Hey, Debra.
Thank you for joining us.
Oh, thanks for having me.
You at some point, took a writing seminar with George Saunders, is that right?
Yes, that's right.
I signed up for the summer literary seminars in St.
Petersburg, Russia, never having read any of his stories.
I just saw a picture of him wearing these boots that I thought were cool, so I figured he was cool, too, and I was right.