Vigil

A Novel

By: George Saunders

Narrated by: Judy Greer, Stephen Root, MacLeod Andrews, Kimberly Farr, Mark Bramhall, Barrett Leddy, Eric Jason Martin, Karissa Vacker, Sunil Malhotra, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Aaron Goodson, Maggi-Meg Reed, Full Cast

“After his spectacular Lincoln in the Bardo, Saunders returns . . . with a new novel even more spectacular than the last.”—Los Angeles Times

A “daring” (Time) novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain and Tenth of December, taking place at the bedside of an oil company CEO in the twilight hours of his life as he is ferried from this world into the next

“Vibrant, fiendishly clever . . . Vigil is pure Saunders: the death of empathy, he insists, is greatly exaggerated.”—The Boston Globe

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.

Read by Judy Greer and Stephen Root with MacLeod Andrews, Kimberly Farr, Mark Bramhall, Barrett Leddy, Eric Jason Martin, Karissa Vacker, Sunil Malhotra, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Aaron Goodson, Maggi-Meg Reed, Marni Penning, Rebecca Lowman, Matt Godfrey, Fred Berman, Kirby Heyborne, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell, Vas Eli, and George Saunders

Excellent Production, Disappointing Book

I found the novel itself didactic and dull, but the production on the audiobook is excellent, with fine narration by Stephen Root (King of the Hill, NewsRadio) as a dying oil tycoon and actress Judy Greer as Jill, an angel sent to comfort him on his deathbed. There are sound effects, layered voices, and popup appearances from audiobook celebrities like Danny Campbell, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Bramhall, Rebecca Lowman, Kirby Heyborne, and Fred Berman, among others, making for an immersive experience.

A very different book

The performers who read this need an award!!! Excellently done, kudos!!! Very unique book!!! Award performance

Lessons to be learned before it is too late

The story takes place in the afterlife where a young woman spends her time seeing souls through to the other side. While doing so there is a life review and it gives you a lot of things to think about including what have I done good for others? What have I done selfishly? What have I done to deserve a good place after I leave this plane?

Clever story. Obvious but important to think about people, motivations, actions and consequences.

The story made me reflective and that is a good thing. It lessons one’s self righteousness and opens one sense of responsibility. And that is a good thing.

Superb.

Great voice actors and added audio elements for background (such as whooshing or party noises) made for an incredible listening experience. Amazing story.