A Beautiful Mind

Reading your first George Saunders novel is like seeing your first 3-D movie. He adds a roundness of thoughtful dimension to his subjects that’s unlike anything you’ve ever explored. I remember opening The Braindead Megaphone Essays at a South Florida CiCi’s Pizza and experiencing a feeling of overwhelming joy, which...

By Jamie Laughlin

April 18, 2013

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Reading your first George Saunders novel is like seeing your first 3-D movie. He adds a roundness of thoughtful dimension to his subjects that’s unlike anything you’ve ever explored. I remember opening The Braindead Megaphone Essays at a South Florida CiCi’s Pizza and experiencing a feeling of overwhelming joy, which could be the first time that’s ever happened for anyone dining in at a South Florida CiCi’s Pizza. The essayist and short-story writer mines the entirety of his subjects, presenting an intensely rich pixelation of human personality. How he’s able to translate the scattershot aggrandizing mind of an 11-year-old preacher’s daughter in a fictional work with the same precision he applies to his non-fictional muses is beyond me. Perhaps we’ll better understand the mental inner workings of MacArthur "Genius Grant" winner George Saunders Friday as he speaks as part of Fresh Ink, the Dallas Museum of Art’s writing series that coincides with its Late Night programming. It happens in the Horchow Auditorium, and tickets were free but have sold out. Here’s the deal: Many people reserve advance free tickets to events and don’t use them. If you want to hear Saunders speak, show up early at will call to try for last-minute availability. There will be some. The DMA is at 1717 N. Harwood St. Saunders speaks at 7 p.m. Visit dallasmuseumofart.org.
Fri., April 19, 2013

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