Gary Shteyngart

May 13, 2011 His third novel, Super Sad True Love Story, is a black comedy set in a futuristic America — where books don't exist and where the economy has collapsed. Shteyngart explains why he decided to write a love story in this dystopic vision of the future — and why he thinks technology is changing the way we think.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

May 5, 2011 Lots of big names are back in paperback form this week: There are two new dystopian novels from Bret Easton Ellis and Gary Shteyngart, and memoirs from Keith Richards, Marlo Thomas and rising humorist Sloane Crosley.

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December 9, 2010 Fresh Air's resident book critic selects her favorite reads from the year, including Patti Smith's moving memoir, a feminist slant on election season and a new history of labor unions.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

August 2, 2010 His third novel, Super Sad True Love Story, is a black comedy set in a futuristic America — where books don't exist and where the economy has collapsed. Shteyngart explains why he decided to write a love story in this dystopic vision of the future — and why he thinks technology is changing the way we think.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

July 28, 2010 Gary Shteyngart's dystopian novel narrates two doomed romances: one between a man and a woman, and one between a writer and his country — or what he fears his country may become. By turns fierce, funny and frightening, Super Sad True Love Story deserves a place on the shelf beside 1984 and Brave New World.

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May 10, 2006 Gary Shteyngart came to the United States in 1979 as a 7 year old Soviet-Jewish kid. He left behind a life of childhood bliss to become a self-described depressive nerd. He's all grown up now, and his new novel, Absurdistan, imagines an oil-rich country run by kleptocrats and oil giants.

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