Podcasts about Little Failure

In conversation with Laura McGrath, Assistant Professor of English at Temple University ''Quirky and often darkly hilarious'' (Mother Jones), Gary Shteyngart is the author of the culturally reflective novels The Russian Debutante's Handbook, winner of the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction; Absurdistan, named a ''best book of the year'' by slews of periodicals; the New York Times bestseller Super Sad True Love Story; and Lake Success, a critically acclaimed satire of the emptiness of materialism. His other work includes the National Book Critics Award finalist Little Failure, a memoir of his experiences in the dramatically dissimilar worlds of uber-consumerist America and the perpetually deprived Soviet Union of his youth. Shteyngart has contributed articles and essays to Esquire, GQ, and The New Yorker, and his work has been translated into more than 20 languages. In his latest novel, a group of friends navigates the rocky shoals of love, betrayal, and K-pop while in pandemic lockdown. (recorded 9/13/2022)

Boris Dralyuk, LARB's Editor-in-Chief, joins Medaya Ocher for a very special ex-Soviet edition of the LARB Book Club and Radio Hour. The guest of honor is the doyen of Russian-American letters, Gary Shteyngart. The author of the novels The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story, and Lake Success, as well as of the memoir Little Failure, Shteyngart's sharp sense of humor, memorable characters, and up-to-the-minute responsiveness to developments in the culture have won him comparisons to Philip Roth and Saul Bellow, as well as a number of prizes and a wide, dedicated readership. His latest novel, Our Country Friends, is a poignant, affectionate tale of pandemic life set at a “House on the Hill” in the Hudson Valley. More than one critic has called it Chekhovian, and Chekhov does make a well-timed appearance, but this eventful novel is no pastiche. During the talk, Shetyngart touches on the lessons of Soviet and Russian life, the pernicious effects of social media, the importance of community, and the ways in which fiction can and should address the unfolding crises of modern life. Also, James Hannaham, author of Pilot Impostor, returns to recommend Megan Mylan's 2021 documentary about Syrian refugees, Simple as Water.

This is an encore presentation. Lake Success, now out in paperback, focuses on self-deluded husband and father Barry Cohen, a discontent hedge fund manager who oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Overwhelmed by an SEC investigation and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism, he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. A darkly funny novel about a life divorced from the world most of us know, Lake Success is a very human portrait of American despair in the months leading up to the 2016 election. Gary Shteyngart is the author of the award-winning novels, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story , and a memoir, Little Failure . His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, Slate , and The New York Times , and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Every day brings an avalanche of anxiety-inducing news: The spread of novel coronavirus, the reaction of the markets, the stress on the healthcare system, and the pending November elections. Singularly, each event is worrying. Collectively, it is hard to take it all in. Where can we find a moment of respite from all the news? Host Grace Won talks with a group of authors, artists and experts to hear how they are using art, music and literature to cope in these challenging times. What are you listening to, reading or watching to calm your nerves? Guests: Skye Pillsbury, Editor and Podcaster, Inside Podcasting ; Gary Shteyngart , New York Times Bestselling Author of Lake Success, Super Sad True Love Story, Little Failure; David Talbot , Author, Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of My Stroke and Season of the Witch; Founder of Salon.com; and, Martin West , Music Director and Principal Conductor, San Francisco Ballet Resources: San Francisco Shelter in Place FAQs: https://sf.gov/stay-home

Admired for fiction (The Russian Debutante’s Handbook) and non-fiction (Little Failure), he began at age five when his grandmother asked him to write a book about Lenin. “She paid me a piece of cheese for every page I wrote, and I wrote 100 pages. I love cheese.” A conversation at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan with music from Tsibele.

''Ridiculously witty and painfully prescient'' (Time), Gary Shteyngart is the author of the culturally reflective novels The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, and Super Sad True Love Story, which was named one of the best novels of the year by The New York Times Book Review. His other work includes the National Book Critics Award finalist Little Failure, a memoir of his experiences in the dramatically dissimilar worlds of uber-consumerist America and the perpetually deprived Soviet Union of his youth. His new novel, a penetrating exploration of the ultra-rich .1%, follows a billionaire hedge-fund manager who flees New York by bus in search of simpler life. Watch the video here. (recorded 9/17/2018)

Gary Shteyngart, whose latest novel is “Lake Success,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Gary Shteyngart is the author of several novels, including “Absurdistan” and “Super Sad True Love Story,” along with a memoir, “Little Failure.” His latest book features a hedge fund manager on a road trip across America in 2016, and explains and satirizes the lives of the very rich. Gary Shteyngart took that road trip via Greyhound himself, and notes in the interview that virtually everything that happens to his character, Barry Cohen, happened to him. The post Gary Shteyngart appeared first on KPFA.

Gary Shteyngart's new novel Lake Success is the evil doppelgänger of the Simon and Garfunkel song 'America'. In what is surely destined to become one of those legendary novel openings, right up there with "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times," we meet Barry Cohen, "a man with 2.4 billion dollars of assets under management . . ." in a Greyhound Bus Terminal at 3:20 am, bleeding from his face and drunk on $20,000 of Japanese whiskey. Shteyngart is one of my favorite writers ever. In the three books I've read—a memoir and two novels—we are sad, basically good-hearted schmos twisted into balloon animals by an uncaring world. Or . . . wait . . . the world is made of us…so…how good hearted are we, really? Born in the USSR, Shteyngart emigrated to Queens as a kid. In his memoir Little Failure he describes his first experience of American cereal: "It tastes grainy easy and light, with a hint of false fruitiness. It tastes the way America feels." It tastes the way America feels. Like Paul Simon in the song, Barry Cohen has walked…or stumbled drunkenly…off to look for America. By almost any measure he is a horrible person. He's also a sad, basically good-hearted schmo twisted in into a balloon animal by the world. And maybe America is a false, fruity mirror in which, the harder you look, the more you end up seeing yourself. Surprise conversation starter clips in this episode: Anand Giridharadas on the sham of corporate social responsibility Robin DiAngelo on unconscious racism and white fragility Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gary Shteyngart is the author of the memoir Little Failure and the novels Super Sad True Love Story, Absurdistan, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, and Lake Success. His work has been translated into twenty-six languages. Shteyngart lives in New York City and upstate New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gary Shteyngart reads his story from the June 25, 2018, issue of the magazine. Shteyngart has published three novels, including "Absurdistan" and "Super Sad True Love Story," and the memoir "Little Failure." His fourth novel, "Lake Success," from which this story was adapted, comes out in September.

This week on Magic Lessons, Elizabeth Gilbert advises Colleen, an advertising executive in New York City, who dreams of being a storyteller but fears it's a frivolous pursuit. Colleen hopes to create a one-woman show, mining stories from her childhood growing up in an Irish Catholic family that ran and owned a bar. Liz calls up the writer Gary Shteyngart for additional expertise on the pain and relief that comes with telling family stories. Special Guest: Gary Shteyngart is the award-winning author of the novels Super Sad True Love Story, Absurdistan, and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook. Born in Leningrad, his memoir Little Failure is a candid and moving account of growing up as a Russian emigre in America. Find out more about him and his work at garyshteyngart.com. This week's sponsors: Audible, The Great Courses Plus, and Stamps.com Use the promo code: Lessons

Born in Leningrad in 1972, Gary Shteyngart came to the U.S. seven years later. His loving but mismatched parents dreamed that he would become a lawyer or Wall Street player, something their curious, diminutive, distracted son was not cut out to do. Shteyngart shares his American immigrant experience with self-deprecating humor and moving insights in Little Failure. Gary Shteyngart is the award-winning author of Absurdistan (selected as one of the 10 best books of the year by the New York Times Book Review and Time) and The Russian Debutante's Handbook, winner of the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction.Recorded On: Friday, October 24, 2014

Bookrageous Episode 69; 2014 Favorites (so far) Intro Music; "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo What We're Reading Josh [1:15] The Lobster Kings, Alexi Zentner (May 27 2014) [5:40] The Keillor Reader, Garrison Keillor [6:45] The Magician's Land, Lev Grossman (August 5 2014) Rebecca [6:50] The Magician's Land, Lev Grossman (August 5 2014) [12:20] The Land of Love and Drowning, Tiphanie Yanique (July 10 2014) [14:50] The Duke and I, Julia Quinn Preeti [17:10] If I Stay, Gayle Forman [19:45] All My Friends are Superheroes, Andrew Kaufman [21:30] Coach House Books [22:20] The Serpent of Venice, Christopher Moore [23:00] Lamb, Christopher Moore --- Intermission; "You're the Best Around" by Joe Esposito --- 2014 Favorites (so far) [25:35] Sex Criminals Vol. 1, Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky [26:55] The Haunted Bookshop, Christopher Morley [28:45] Parnassus on Wheels, Christopher Morley [29:40] An Untamed State, Roxane Gay [31:55] Red or Dead, David Peace (May 27 2014) [33:50] The Lobster Kings, Alexi Zentner (May 27 2014) [34:25] A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip: A Memoir of Seventh Grade, Kevin Brockmeier [37:00] Ms. Marvel Issue 1, G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona [38:30] Amazing X-Men Issue 5, Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness [39:30] Earthbound, Ken Baumann [41:15] The Martian, Andy Weir [43:20] Sleep Donation, Karen Russell [44:00] Side Effects May Vary, Julie Murphy [45:45] Caffeinated, Murray Carpenter [48:00] Delancey, Molly Wizenberg [13:55] Grasshopper Jungle, Andrew Smith [52:45] Little Failure, Gary Shteyngart [56:10] Boy Snow Bird, Helen Oyeyemi [57:35] The Empathy Exams, Leslie Jamison [59:00] Salvage, Alexandra Duncan [1:02:15] If This Isn't Nice, What Is?, Kurt Vonnegut, Dan Wakefield --- Outro Music; "Talk Dirty" by Jason Derulo --- Bookrageous on Tumblr, Podbean, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, and leave us voicemail at 347-855-7323. Come to the BOOKRAGEOUS BASH at BEA on May 28th in New York City Find Us Online: Josh, Preeti, Rebecca Order Josh's book! Maine Beer: Brewing in Vacationland Get Bookrageous schwag at CafePress Note: Our show book links direct you to WORD, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn. If you click through and buy the book, we will get a small affiliate payment. We won't be making any money off any book sales -- any payments go into hosting fees for the Bookrageous podcast, or other Bookrageous projects. We promise.

The Avid Reader interviews Gary Shteyngart author of Little Failure NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER After three acclaimed novels, Gary Shteyngart turns to memoir in a candid, witty, deeply poignant account of his life so far. Shteyngart shares his American immigrant experience, moving back and forth through time and memory with self-deprecating humor, moving insights, and literary bravado. The result is a resonant story of family and belonging that feels epic and intimate and distinctly his own.

With Will Gompertz. Marc Almond and John Harle discuss their new collaboration, The Tyburn Tree, a collection of songs about Gothic London, whose subjects include the Highgate Vampire, Jack The Ripper and the Elizabethan mystic John Dee. 50 years ago the Liverpool Everyman theatre opened its doors to the public for the first time. 40 years ago, Willy Russell provided the theatre with his first big hit play and their first London transfer - John, Paul, George, Ringo... and Bert. As the Everyman re-opens after an extensive three-year building project, Willy Russell discusses the theatre's past. Gemma Bodinetz, Artistic Director of the Everyman and Playhouse theatres, and theatre writer Lyn Gardner discuss what the role of the theatre building should be in the 21st century. Gary Shteyngart, the Russian-born American author, whose books include The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Super Sad True Love Story, has recently released his memoir, Little Failure. Named after the nickname bestowed upon him by his mother, the book documents Gary's childhood in the Soviet Union, his move to America at the age of seven, and his life thereafter as a Russian Jewish immigrant and wannabe writer. Glastonbury was named Best Festival at last night's NME Awards and this morning Dolly Parton announced that she has been booked for this year. Emily Eavis explains how they choose their megastar line-ups and what she intends to do with the festival as she takes a more prominent role in its planning. Producer: Ellie Bury.

“Gary Shteyngart has written a memoir for the ages. I spat laughter on the first page and closed the last with wet eyes. Unputdownable in the day and a half I spent reading it, Little Failure is a window into immigrant agony and ambition, Jewish angst, and anybody’s desperate need for a tribe. Readers who’ve […] The post Gary Shteyngart : Little Failure appeared first on Tin House.

Gary Shteyngart and his family came to New York City from the Soviet Union when he was a young boy, but their parenting style remained, as he describes it, distinctly Russian. Little Failure isn't just the title of his memoir; it's his mother's actual nickname for him in his 20s--a step up or down, depending on how you look at it, from when his father called him "Soplyak," or "Snotty." In this interview, we talk about how the lonely boy, who grew up to become a confused and angry young man, finally turned himself around... and eventually confronts his hurtful past straight on.