Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders (1997, Paperback)

To my knowledge, "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" is George Saunders' second collection of short stories. It serves as a likely precursor to "Pastoralia," a collection in which the title story also takes place in an imagined historical re-enactment theme park. His deeply satirical voice seems under development here, as do his plots. The main characters in "CivilWarLand" are profoundly tragic, most of them pariahs. They show hope of bettering their stations--as the morbidly obese and subsequently outcast Jeffrey in "The 400-Pound CEO" puts it, "My heart's some kind of idiotic fishing bobber,"--but normally turn out lower than they started. There is actually a character called Downtrodden Mary, and that she is. Saunders verbalizes his cynicism in a way matched by no current writers known by this reviewer. He, like most successful writers of heartwrenching tales, is necessarily very funny. His humor is no more gentle than his critique, and often happens in the same phrases. Most of his stories refer to the employer-employee relationship and so the use of managerial "business speak" contributes to the humor. This passage is from "Downtrodden Mary's Failed Campaign of Terror:"

I get up to leave and he asks what's next on my agenda. I say Break. He says not so fast and orders me to clean up some vomit from near the Pickled Babies. I ask him please no. Three stillborns was my lot and the Pickled Babies first thing in the morning is too much.
But he cheerfully recites the Employee Loyalty Oath and says he's not in the mood to negotiate and tells me to please shake a leg for Christ's sake.

Perhaps a better of the work site language comes from the collection's novella, "Bounty:"

"Heads out of butts, everybody," Oberlin says. "Fun's over. Unless I'm mistaken we still have valued Clients to transport to a time of quaint enchantment."

The mix of slang and elevated language makes for hysterical contrasts which no one person may ever actually speak, but are perfectly imaginable. His stories always involve absurd elements and often the spectral, which tend to compound the absurdity. While many of the occurances are impossible, the quality of life is identifiable and as real as the dirt under your fingernails.

"CivilWarLand" is very good writing on the cusp of something great. The missing element, as I can identify it, is the imagination to create storylines that go beyond pointing out futility, and do so gracefully. For this, look to Saunders' more recent work, "Pastoralia," and "The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil," though I haven't read his most recent "In Persuasion Nation."
His books are quick reads, two or three days for me and I'm a slow reader. When in the midst of reading his work, it's difficult to ponder much else.