Tenth of December

Tenth of December (2013) by George Saunders. This collection of short stories featured a wide variety of bizarre topics. Most interesting to me was "The Semplica Girl Diaries." In this story, an assortment of foreign and immigrant young women are exploited by being used as human lawn ornaments. They are kept in place by having a  monofilament run through their skulls in a process developed by a scientist named Semplica. The story is a scathing satire and at the same time an amusing tale of one family's struggle to "keep up with the Joneses." Another story, "Victory Lap," has a boy witness the attempted abduction of a neighbor and struggle whether to take action or to adhere to his parents' ridiculous strictures. This short story collection has been widely praised, and I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but I really found it more of a chore to read than not. The stories don't seem to me easily accessible, and I had to bulldoze my way through the book. Grade: B