Lincoln in the Bardo

***WINNER OF THE 2018 AUDIE AWARD FOR AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR***



The long-awaited first novel from the author of Tenth of December: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented



February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body.



From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state-called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo-a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.



Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?



The 166-person full cast features award-winning actors and musicians, as well as a number of Saunders' family, friends, and members of his publishing team, including, in order of their appearance:



Nick Offerman as HANS VOLLMAN

David Sedaris as ROGER BEVINS III

Carrie Brownstein as ISABELLE PERKINS

George Saunders as THE REVEREND EVERLY THOMAS

Miranda July as MRS. ELIZABETH CRAWFORD

Lena Dunham as ELISE TRAYNOR

Ben Stiller as JACK MANDERS

Julianne Moore as JANE ELLIS

Susan Sarandon as MRS. ABIGAIL BLASS

Bradley Whitford as LT. CECIL STONE

Bill Hader as EDDIE BARON

Megan Mullally as BETSY BARON

Rainn Wilson as PERCIVAL "DASH" COLLIER

Jeff Tweedy as CAPTAIN WILLIAM PRINCE

Kat Dennings as MISS TAMARA DOOLITTLE

Jeffrey Tambor as PROFESSOR EDMUND BLOOMER

Mike O'Brien as LAWRENCE T. DECROIX

Keegan-Michael Key as ELSON FARWELL

Don Cheadle as THOMAS HAVENS

and

Patrick Wilson as STANLEY "PERFESSER" LIPPERT

with

Kirby Heyborne as WILLIE LINCOLN,

Mary Karr as MRS. ROSE MILLAND,

and Cassandra Campbell as Your Narrator





Praise for the audiobook



"Lincoln in the Bardo" sets a new standard for cast recordings in its structure, in its performances, and in its boldness. Now, let's see who answers the challenge." - Chicago Tribune



"Like the novel...