Super Short Summary

In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders is a satirical short story collection that explores the absurdity of consumerism and corporate culture in contemporary America through various narratives, including a customer complaint about a baby-to-adult speech translator in "I CAN SPEAK!TM," a man's struggles to take his seemingly gay grandson to a Broadway show in "My Flamboyant Grandson," and teens raised to only respond to marketing in "Jon." The book also features stories such as "The Red Bow," about a town overtaken by anti-pet hysteria, and "In Persuasion Nation," where commercial mascots rebel against their corporate creators. The collection portrays comic nightmares of wage slavery and societal pressures in a consumerist dystopia. Some stories contain themes of violence and trauma.