The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil

George Saunders follows the brilliant Pastoralia with another fiercely inventive collection. Again his stories are set in a warped, hilarious, and very recognisable American landscape - maybe in the near future, or a parallel world where people work in a service sector economy gone mad. In 'I CAN SPEAK!' we hear the merits of the I CAN SPEAKT latex mask, which sticks with Velcro onto the face of your baby and simulates grown-up baby-talk, to the envy of your friends. In 'The Red Bow' a village is in crisis when a deadly canine virus takes hold and a young girl is killed by a feverous dog. Her father finds the evidence: the little red bow from her hair. 'Jon' is a wry look at a futuristic world where Tastemakers & Trendsetters live in privileged confinement. By turns touching, funny and sad, this is an extraordinary, utterly compelling collection.