George Saunders' 'Vigil' is a ghostly novel about an oil tycoon in his final hours
February 11, 2026
551
7
1
1.45%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
NPR Podcasts Episodes Around February 11, 2026
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
10:45Now PlayingGeorge Saunders' 'Vigil' is a ghostly novel about an oil tycoon in his final hours
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelIn his latest novel, George Saunders continues to explore his interest in death and the afterlife. Vigil tells the story of an oil tycoon and climate change denier named K.J. Boone who’s visited by a series of ghosts in his final hours. In today’s episode, NPR’s Scott Detrow asks Saunders about similarities between this novel and A Christmas Carol. They also discuss the author’s Substack, his experience in the oil industry, and the role of storytelling in this political moment.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
See pcm.adswizz.com () for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy ()
Links & Promotions
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.