Gary Shteyngart (2014)

Do you ever get tired of being a Jew? It just seems like it would get exhausting.

Oppositely, how do you feel about the idea of a Palestinian state?

It's where a chick fucks a guy in the ass with a strap on but you can pretend you didn't know that already if that's what you're into Gary.

Would you ever let a chick peg you?

Hi Gary!

What is your position on the state of Israel?

I had a dream the other night: I was holding my laptop by the sides on either side of the keyboard and when I set it down it was stamped with the imprint of my hands. What do you think this means?

mazel tov

Hey Gary,

First found out about you on an NPR segment I believe, about Absurdistan a few years back. Good stuff.

Two questions:
1. I've seen you compared to John Kennedy Toole and his "Confederacy of Dunces" -- how do you feel you compare with his work?
2. What's your very best life advice?

Have you thought about using your enormous wealth and your status as an international man of letters to mediate the conflict in Ukraine?

Great. Hoping to open my Donetsk hotel for Valentine's Day tourism.

If you could maybe plug it during peace talks, so much the better. Poroshenko and Putin alike are welcome, but please all payment must be in dollars or compressed natural gas.

If you wrote romance novels on the side, what would your pseudonym be?

How tall are you?

I enjoyed reading your essays on doing book tours across America in the New Yorker. I look forward to reading your memoir. What do you enjoy more, fiction or nonfiction? And do you think one can teach oneself to be funny?

Do you think one person can change the world? Why don't you?

I recently read Little Failure. I live in the Philly area, where there are alot of Russian Jews. My Russian friend was explaining that culturally there is a big difference between "Russian Jews" and "Russian-Russians (non-Jews)" that live here in the US. I didn't really understand. Care to weigh in?

What do you think of Oberlin's other famous grad, Lena Dunham? Think you would have ran in the same circles if you overlapped?

Ever seen the show The Americans on FX? Russian spies living in early 80s Reagan America.

Do you still get panic attacks?

Was there any widespread cheating when you went to Stuyvie?

As a writer, do you find social media useful and nourishing, or is it usually a huge distraction?

BQQ: Vinegar or tomato-based?

Top 5 80s new wave/post punk albums?

You're a little failure, according to the title of your memoir. Would your mother be happier if you were, at least, a big failure?

Did/Does marijuana hurt your asthma?

Yet in fairness to the GOP (almost as hard as being fair to LeBron), their only alternative for a Convention site was Dallas. Does Dallas even exist? We know it only as a mythical setting of a 1980s TV show, supposedly the home of shiksa cheerleaders and presidential assassins. Can you confirm its existence?

Do you dream in Russian or English? Esperanto?

I was expecting to see some Talking Heads on this list.

What are some contemporary novels you recently read that you really loved?

In your experience, s someone who is ready to write a novel (I have everything planned out and ready just need to sit down with my laptop), once I have completed it and done the first edit/revision myself, what is the next step?

Do I show it to friends/family for further feedback and editing? Do I send straight to a publisher or find an agent? I am not much of one for self-publishing personally. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi, Gary. I've read all your books. Which one do you think is best suited to a film adaptation, and why is it "Absurdistan"?

Given that so few MFA students achieve success, are you conflicted about the existence of MFA in creative writing programs?

Hi, this is a pretty basic question, butt how do you come up with ideas for books? Where does the inspiration come from?
I love writing, but sometimes I get writers block and I have no idea how to carry on.

Hello, I just read SSTLS and loved it. What book of yours should I read next?

Do you think you'd ever come down to Winston-Salem to try some Vinegar-based BBQ? (My mom wanted me to ask this)

Have you been back to Russia in the past year? Just curious if it is any different vs. 3-4 yrs ago now that Putin is flexing his muscles even more.

If you only had one meal left to eat in NYC, where would you go?

Hi Gary,
what made you think of the post-apocalyptic graphic scenes in the SSTLS?

Are your books available in Russia? Or are they banned?

Do you think you will ever write another non-fiction book or that the memoir is it?

Does Oberlin's mistake explain the increasing irrelevance of Northeast Ohio?

Are things getting serious with your girlfriend? (did you buy a ring, yet...3 months salary)

Why did you dedicate your memoir, LITTLE FAILURE, to your shrink?

Why do you think Jewish dudes and Asian ladies are such a prevalent couple? There are many cultural similarities between the two, but is there anything else?

Did you come up with onion skin pants from leggings that become sheer in the sunlight? I know your book was before that big Lululemon snafu, but I thought maybe thats where you came up with the idea!

What advice would you give to someone interested in teaching literature?

Gary! I think you're an amazing writer! I paid for Google Glass because of your article though, and eh. But let's set that aside.

I read the Russian Debutante's Handbook and loved it. I then gave it to one of my friends, a bilingual Russian-American Jew with a Russian home life. He told me it was one of the best books he'd ever read ever, but that he didn't get how someone who wasn't a Russian-American Jew would find it funny at all. Is there some gap of in-jokes you built into the book on purpose?

Do I have any chance at being a good Jewish writer if I'm not neurotic?

Gary, Absurdistan was both hilarious and incredibly on-point with how the Post-Soviet world crumbled. How much improvement do you think has happened since you wrote it?

Which would you rather fight; 100 duck sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck?

Гарик, ты по-русски читаешь?

And yet, no kisses for Paul Giamatti in the second video. Poor Paul...

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What book have you always wanted to read but just aren't getting to?

Do you have an all time favorite memoir?

Hi Gary!
Is it true you are obsessed with dachshunds?
When did it started?

Hi Gary! What was the hardest part about writing this memoir?

Hi Gary, thanks so much for doing this! I loved the book trailers you made for Super Sad - How did those come about? Did you yourself script them? Any highlights/anecdotes from the set?