Jon by George Saunders

I've tasted other cocoas. This is the best.

Bizarre and disorienting in the best way, Jon by George Saunders isn’t your typical sci-fi dystopia. The worldbuilding exists on the periphery and the reader is dropped into this world without any explanations. All we get are flashes through the narrator’s scattered, hyperactive thoughts that starts to coalesce and make more sense as the story progresses. If you tossed The Truman Show, Black Mirror, and a dash of Samuel Beckett into a blender, you might get something vaguely resembling this story. However, it would still manage to be weirder, sadder, and somehow funnier. Like The Truman Show, Jon explores the unsettling idea of a life lived under constant observation, but with none of the cheerful suburbia. It channels the tech-paranoia and nightmarish unease of Black Mirror, yet filters it through a voice that feels more comically absurd. And then there's the Beckett energy: fragmented thoughts, repetition, and a lingering sense that life might be meaningless, except when it suddenly isn’t.

Our narrator, Jon/Randy, has grown up in what is essentially a corporate prison, raised with other kids to be literal guinea pigs for consumer products. It’s as bleak as it sounds but Saunders leans into the absurdity with sharp, satirical humor. Through Jon’s confused and frantic voice, the author provides a scathing critique on capitalism, media saturation, and how human experience can be warped and commodified. At the heart of all this chaos, is a surprisingly tender coming-of-age story. Jon is just a kid trying to figure out love, identity, and what it means to live freely, even if his idea of freedom has been totally shaped by commercials and advertising slogans. It's funny, unsettling, and surprisingly moving. 

I have always found George Saunders’ writing a bit tricky to sink my teeth into because he seems to be operating on a wavelength just slightly out of my reach. His stories are often quite strange and his writing style can be perplexing in a way that goes right over my head. Much to my surprise, even though it takes on that Saunderian weirdness, this story felt more accessible once you settle into its rhythm. Now that I’ve finally had a taste, I’m actually curious to explore more of his work.