{
  "id": 17250375,
  "title": "How to Adapt a Truly Surreal Book",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/how-to-adapt-a-truly-surreal-book",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-30T15:25:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Atlantic",
    "slug": "the-atlantic",
    "url": "https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/10/books-briefing-lincoln-bardo-met-surreal-book/689222/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This is an installment of The Atlantic's Books section. Somewhere within my storage area resides an odd artifact: a cardboard virtual-reality viewer. The sole memory I have of it is from 2017, when I watched a 10-minute adaptation of George Saunders's Booker Prize-winning debut novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. The adaptation, presented by The New York Times, was a 3-D, 360-degree experience that viewers could only fully experience by constantly rotating their heads. Google Cardboard, the technology behind this experiment, is now obsolete. However, the book's unconventional nature has led to various adaptations since then. Recently, The Atlantic's senior editor, Talya Zax, praised the boldness of the book's latest adaptation—a \"brilliant\" and \"peculiar\" staging at New York's Metropolitan Opera. This essay inspired me to listen to the Bardo audiobook, which is notable for its 166 narrators, many of whom are celebrities. Despite its surreal and disjointed narrative, the audiobook holds up well. The story revolves around Willie Lincoln, Abraham's deceased son, who finds himself in a sort of purgatory that he must escape before it consumes him. Guiding him are three bizarre ghosts—a damned reverend, a priapic printmaker, and a gay man who died by suicide. The book's surreal nature is evident in its overlapping dialogue, eccentric characters, and descriptions that defy any visual logic. However, it's clear that Willie Lincoln's journey is the core of the story, set against the backdrop of the Civil War. Saunders alternates between historical snippets and the cemetery's diverse cast of ghosts, creating a unique blend of reality and fantasy. The audiobook features a star-studded cast, including Susan Sarandon, Julianne Moore, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Bill Hader, Lena Dunham, Carrie Brownstein, and Keegan-Michael Key, among others. Many of these A-listers deliver compelling performances, particularly Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and Saunders himself as Willie's three helpful ghosts. Their crisp, funny, and layered dialogue, along with the soliloquies, showcase the best of what an audiobook can offer. The audiobook succeeds in faithfully rendering the book while adding a generous dose of flair. It's a dramatic rendering that preserves the interiority and verbal dexterity found only in a novel.",
  "summary": "Lincoln in the Bardo is a bold novel that has rightfully inspired inventive adaptations.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}