"The Bradford-Shmulkin family is falling apart. A very modern blend of Russian, Jewish, Korean, and New England WASP, they love one another deeply but the pressures of life in an unstable America are fraying their bonds. There's Daddy, a struggling, cash-thirsty editor whose Russian heritage gives him a surprising new currency in the upside-down world of twenty-first-century geopolitics; his wife, Anne Mom, a progressive, underfunded blue blood from Boston who's barely holding the household together; their son, Dylan, whose blond hair and Mayflower lineage provide him pride of place in the newly forming American political order; and, above all, the young Vera, half-Jewish, half-Korean, and wholly original. Observant, sensitive, and always writing down new vocabulary words, Vera wants only three things in life: to make a friend at school; Daddy and Anne Mom to stay together; and to meet her birth mother, Mom Mom, who will at last tell Vera the secret of who she really is and how to ensure love's survival in this great, mad, imploding world"--
Gary Shteyngart Book order (chronological)
Gary Shteyngart is an American writer whose satirical works often unfold in elaborately invented yet familiar fictional settings. His humor delves into the complexities of identity and social standing, exploring the clashes of culture and personal ambition. Through brilliantly drawn characters and vivid language, he brings his narratives to life with a sharp observational eye. His writing is noted for its unique blend of bittersweet wit and profound insight into the human condition.







Eight friends, one country house, four romances, and six months in isolation-a novel about love, friendship, family, and betrayal, a book that reads like a great Russian novel, or Chekhov on the Hudson, by a novelist The New York Times calls 'one of his generation's most original writers'.
Lake Success
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
Barry Cohen, master of the universe, has just had a very public meltdown involving a dinner party, an insider trading investigation and a $30,000 bottle of Japanese whisky. So he flees New York City, leaving behind his beautiful young wife and son, but remembering to bring his six favourite designer watches. Zig-zagging south through Trump's America on a Greyhound Bus pilgrimmage he is singularly unprepared for, Barry heads to Texas - to find his old college girlfriend and, with her, a second chance at life... Lake Success marries the trademark Shteyngart wit with a deep emotional resonance, capturing the vivid eccentricity and contradictions of America right now, while speaking to the universal human experience of love, belonging, and the pursuit of happiness.
Little Failure. Kleiner Versager, englische Ausgabe
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
A candid and poignant story of a Soviet family's trials and tribulations, and of their escape in 1979 to the consumerist promised land of the USA.
Little Failure
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
With a blend of humor and heartfelt reflection, the memoir captures the experiences of newly landed immigrants alongside themes of unrequited love and the absurdities of both American and Soviet life. Shteyngart showcases his signature wit and playful language while presenting a relatable, flawed protagonist in himself. This work stands out as his most mature and emotionally resonant, inviting readers into a journey filled with laughter and vulnerability.
Super Sad True Love Story
- 334 pages
- 12 hours of reading
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deliciously dark tale of America’s dysfunctional coming years—and the timeless and tender feelings that just might bring us back from the brink. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • The Washington Post • The Boston Globe • San Francisco Chronicle • The Seattle Times • O: The Oprah Magazine • Maureen Corrigan, NPR • Salon • Slate • Minneapolis Star Tribune • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Kansas City Star • Charlotte Observer • The Globe and Mail • Vancouver Sun • Montreal Gazette • Kirkus Reviews In the near future, America is crushed by a financial crisis and our patient Chinese creditors may just be ready to foreclose on the whole mess. Then Lenny Abramov, son of an Russian immigrant janitor and ardent fan of “printed, bound media artifacts” (aka books), meets Eunice Park, an impossibly cute Korean American woman with a major in Images and a minor in Assertiveness. Could falling in love redeem a planet falling apart?
Love Is a Four-Letter Word
True Stories of Breakups, Bad Relationships, and Broken Hearts
- 297 pages
- 11 hours of reading
From Junot Díaz, Lynda Barry, Gary Shteyngart, and Kate Christensen to popular up-and-comers like Dan Kennedy, Wendy McClure, and Brock Clarke, Love Is a Four-Letter Word is a dead-on contemporary collection of true stories of seduction, heartbreak, and regret. Fearlessly revealing their shattered hearts and crushed egos; their indiscretions and indignities; their delusions, desperation, and disappointments, these talented writers capture the dark side of love in prose ranging from comic to poetic, poignant to cringe-inducing. Also featuring three cartoon/ graphic essays as a sixteen-page color insert, this anthology is perfect for anyone who's ever loved and lost.
A hilarious and poignant satire of post-Soviet life from one of America's most outstanding young novelists.
Russian immigrant Vladimir Girshkin finds himself returning to the Russian city of Prave where he becomes involved in a pyramid scheme to defraud his friends in the American ex-pat community


