The subtitle reads In which Four Russians give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life. I disagree. It's George Saunders himself who gives that masterclass, through his interpretations of the four Russians' stories.

If you've finished a first draft of a novel, read this book. If you've finished the nth draft of a novel and can't find an agent or a publisher, read this book.

It will make the next stages easier, the redrafting (and re-re-redrafting) and the decisions you'll need to make and the direction your book might take. Everything, really, connected with the delightful (and difficult) art of choosing what and how to write.

George Saunders is a delight. He doesn't use words like structure and plot, but call and response and meaningful action. His anonymous reader is female. He's funny and his language resonates, empathises and encourages. If you're thinking about taking an MA in Writing, read this book first. I've done an MA and various other fiction-writing courses, but George Saunders is the business. (It may be that if I hadn't done the courses first, I wouldn't have got so much from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain - George Saunders teaches on the creative writing program at Syracuse University, New York State - but I recommend trying the book first anyway. It might just be all you need.)

What a story is 'about' is to be found in the curiosity it creates in us, which is a form of caring.
and, on causality:
The problem is not in making things happen ... but in making one thing seem to cause the next. ... Causation creates the appearance of meaning.