#44 in Short stories
Vigil
- NYT bestseller · 1 week on the list, peaked at #6
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About the book
Not for the first time, Jill “Doll” Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls, right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife, and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. She has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn’t like the others. The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold, epic life, and the world is better for it. Isn’t it? Vigil transports us, careening, through the wild final evening of a complicated man. Visitors begin to arrive (worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead), clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man’s room; a black calf grazes on the love seat; a man from a distant, drought-ravaged village materializes; two oil-business cronies from decades past show up with chilling plans for Boone’s postdeath future. With the wisdom, playfulness, and explosive imagination we’ve come to expect, George Saunders takes on the gravest issues of our time—the menace of corporate greed, the toll of capitalism, the environmental perils of progress—and, in the process, spins a tale that encompasses life and death, good and evil, and the thorny question of absolution.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.5 across 53 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 22% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Short stories average of 8.3. That is how 7.7 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 6.5 | 53 | 100% |
Frequently asked
What is Vigil rated?
7.7 out of 10, from 53 reader ratings across 1 independent sources.
Is Vigil worth reading?
Readers give it 7.7/10 from 53 ratings, which puts it ahead of 20 % of the Short stories shelf.
Where does Vigil rank?
#44 in Short stories on the current snapshot.
Was Vigil a bestseller?
Yes — 1 weeks on the New York Times list, peaking at #6. Sales are shown here but never scored.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Short stories — with scores between 7.7 and 7.8, closest to this book.
