| « Call for Submissions: Participate in the Chicago Nerd Comedy Festival! | Third Annual 2013 Book of the Year Awards @ The Book Cellar » |
Events Wed Jan 15 2014
Gary Shteyngart Drops in on the Chicago Humanities Festival
Fun facts about Gary Shteyngart, author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story and most recently, the memoir Little Failure:
He was born Igor Steinhorn (which means "stone horn") in the city formerly known as Leningrad in 1972. After he and his parents moved to America his name was changed to Gary so he wouldn't be mistaken for "Frankenstein's assistant."
Shteyngart has been likened to everyone from Anton Chekhov to Judd Apatow to Alexander Portnoy, but he is perhaps best know as the excitable blurber behind The Collective Blurbs of Gary Shteyngart: A Catalogue of Promiscuous Praise.
And perhaps the most fun fact of all, Shteyngart will be appearing in conversation with another brilliant writer of the immigrant experience, Aleksandar Hemon, in our fair city next week!
As part of a great line-up of winter author talks, the Chicago Humanities Festival, in partnership with Unabridged Bookstore, hosts Shteyngart and Hemon on Wednesday, January 22 at 6pm at First United Methodist Church at The Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St. General admission is $15, and book and package deals are available (see the website for more info).
To whet you appetite, view the hilarious book trailer for Little Failure featuring James Franco, Rashida Jones and a few more famous hotshots.
Photo of Shteyngart courtesy of WSJ.com
