In Gary Shteyngart’s new novel, “Vera, or Faith,” a precocious 10-year old Korean-American girl, with a curious mind and exceptional vocabulary, navigates her way through a dystopian nearfuture. The politics of this America, in which a constitutional amendment to give “exceptional” white Americans more voting rights is being considered, are confusing. But even more so is Vera’s complicated family life that includes a dead mother, a scattered and self-involved father, and a stepmother who Vera is not sure loves her. Reviewers have called the book a “brilliant fable.” We talk to Shteyngart about the future and families.
In Gary Shteyngart’s “Vera, or Faith,” A Child Navigates Family, American Dystopia
(Brigitte Lacombe)
Guests:
Gary Shteyngart, writer, Shteyngart's latest novel is "Vera, or Faith" - he is also the author of "Our Country Friends," "Little Failure: A Memoir" and "Super Sad True Love Story"
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During the interview, Gary Shteyngart—who teaches in Columbia’s Writing MFA program—mentioned his class on immigrant fiction. Several listeners asked for the reading list, so here it is.
Henry Roth, “Call It Sleep”
Vladimir Nabokov, “Pnin”
Chang-rae Lee, “Native Speaker”
Jhumpa Lahiri, “Interpreter of Maladies”
Akhil Sharma, “Family Life”
Akhil Sharma, “An Obedient Father”
Jonathan Escoffery, “If I Survive You”
Sigrid Nunez, “A Feather On The Breath of God”