I am not sure what is in the kool-aid but who thinks and talks like the characters in George Saunders' collection of short stories. He might have a "Genius Grant" but it was obviously misguided. This collection doesn't even read like short stories but more like scrapes of writings quilted together. The irony was that the most coherent story was the 2 paged one titled "Sticks". Everything else is just a mess.If he is an "undisputed master of the short story" then give me a novelist instead. Someone who knows their craft.