The greatest books in Russian literature are satires. Gogol's Dead Souls, for example, is a very over-the-top satire about life in Russia. I think it's the thing we do best.
Gary ShteyngartWe are now part of this giant machine where every second we have to take out a device and contribute our thoughts and opinions.
Gary ShteyngartIf you're not fascinated by Korea yet, you damn well should be. The most innovative country on earth deserves a hilarious and poignant account on the order of Euny Hong's The Birth of Korean Cool. Her phat beats got Gangnam Style and then some.
Gary ShteyngartA lot of the ways of advertising a book - the cover, whether somebody sees it on a subway or sees it in a bookstore - those things are going to rapidly diminish as we move to an electronic model.
Gary ShteyngartMy first book really did change my life. It allowed me to fully express myself. There was a sense that I was worth something as an artist.
Gary ShteyngartUsually, with a novel, you start with no idea what to do because your job is to create convincing characters and then they just run around getting crazy. The problem with writing a memoir, obviously, is you can't do that because you sort of know what's going to happen. Because you're the character.
Gary Shteyngart