What does a MacArthur Genius Fellow do when he appears on The Late Show? Sing a childrens song in a duet with Stephen Colbert, of course, even though it makes him nervous. As he admits, having to perform in front of the Late Show band is like “having sex in front of porn stars.”

Quotable line from the interview, “Novels are training wheels for empathy.”

George Saunders is currently on tour for the re-release of his childrens book, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip, illustrated by Lane Smint, (Random House, 11/24/15; originally published in 2006).

Not mentioned in the interview, the book is set to be adapted as a movie by MGM, with Saunders producing.

Saunders also read a bedtime story to Colbert.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 at 9:13 am and is filed under 2015 -- Fall, Childrens and YA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.