“As every so-called creative spirit soon learns, the rest of the world doesn't particularly give a damn.” — Gary Shteyngart Creative spirit Copy Share Image
Reading is entering into the consciousness of another human being. — Gary Shteyngart Consciousness Copy Share Image
I have a great memory. And actually, I remember Russia in some ways better than I remember Queens. — Gary Shteyngart Great memories Copy Share Image
My mother cranes her neck. Her ability to be fascinated by things is her best gift to me. — Gary Shteyngart Ability Copy Share Image
“The fact that my sexual awakening peripherally involves Steve Guttenberg I have gradually accepted.” — Gary Shteyngart Gradually Copy Share Image
“I am a kind of joke, but the question is: which kind? My job is to keep everyone guessing.” — Gary Shteyngart Growing up Copy Share Image
Italy has sun and tomatoes, and Russia just has real problems. — Gary Shteyngart Italy Copy Share Image
That's what tyrants do, I guess. They make you covet their attention; they make you confuse attention for mercy. — Gary Shteyngart Attention Copy Share Image
I read real books. On paper. You know, those printed books? I feel like this is the last thing I do to… — Gary Shteyngart Book Copy Share Image
“Here was the tiredness of failure imposed on a country that believed only in its opposite. Here was the end product of… — Gary Shteyngart Exhaustion Copy Share Image
“It's just a passing thing,' Vishnu had told me about his girlfriend's beliefs. 'It's like their way of assimilating into the West.… — Gary Shteyngart Faith Copy Share Image
I always think that good writers should be growing up on the brink of death - it really lets them see mortality… — Gary Shteyngart Always Copy Share Image
“I prepared for my meal in the usual fashion: fork in my left hand; my dominant right clenched into a fist on… — Gary Shteyngart Food Copy Share Image
Vodka has a huge history in Russia, in that it's almost like a currency. It's the one thing that keeps the country… — Gary Shteyngart Age Copy Share Image
She was clothed entirely in two large swatches of leather, the leather fake and shiny in a self-mocking way, absolutely correct for… — Gary Shteyngart Fake Copy Share Image
“The situation was clear: They were two astronauts on a cold planet. He was, for his part, a gentle dissembler, a dodgy… — Gary Shteyngart Astronauts Copy Share Image
Don't be pretentious is my first advice to young writers. This is the big problem - just because you're getting an MFA… — Gary Shteyngart Academy Copy Share Image
After you publish a book, you become a writer and you're supposed to take it very seriously. You're supposed to show up… — Gary Shteyngart Book Copy Share Image
Silence has been destroyed, but also the idea that it's important to learn how another person thinks, to enter the mind of… — Gary Shteyngart Also Copy Share Image
“IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXISTENCE OF THIS VEHICLE ("THE OBJECT") UNTIL YOU ARE .5 MILES FROM THE SECURITY PERIMETER OF… — Gary Shteyngart Cybersecurity Copy Share Image
Summer is a Latvian chicken. We make foolish choices. We think we’re young again. We run with outstretched arms toward an object… — Gary Shteyngart Air Copy Share Image
One should learn from a book. Books have a lot to teach us. They have a lot of empathy to impart to… — Gary Shteyngart Better yourself Copy Share Image
Russia tried to introduce beer as kind of the new vodka - and it's working with younger people in major cities -… — Gary Shteyngart Beer Copy Share Image
“Joshie has always told Post Human Services Staff to keep a diary, to remember who we were because every moment, our brains… — Gary Shteyngart Childhood Copy Share Image
My hair would continue to gray, and then one day, it would fall out entirely, and then, on a day meaninglessly close… — Gary Shteyngart Belief Copy Share Image
“We know summer is the height of of being alive. We don't believe in God or the prospect of an afterlife mostly,… — Gary Shteyngart Afterlife Copy Share Image
“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have… — Gary Shteyngart Civil war Copy Share Image
“From the moment I bought my ticket, I had a premonition I wasn’t returning to New York anytime soon. You Know, this… — Gary Shteyngart High school Copy Share Image
“I hate the Fourth of July. The early middle age of summer. Everything is alive and kicking for now, but the eventual… — Gary Shteyngart Believe in god Copy Share Image
“This would be the worst birthday of his life. Vladimir's best friend Baobab was down in Florida covering his rent, doing unspeakable… — Gary Shteyngart Best friend Copy Share Image
By reading this message you are denying its existence and implying consent. — Gary Shteyngart Consent Copy Share Image
Michigan, with its delicious American name. How lucky one must be to live there. — Gary Shteyngart Lucky Copy Share Image
If I still lived in Russia, I'd be dead... or a really effective oligarch. — Gary Shteyngart Dead Copy Share Image
“Today I've made a major decision. I'm never going to die.” — Gary Shteyngart Decision Copy Share Image
I was very, very sick when I was growing up in Russia. The ambulance constantly came to our house. I had horrible… — Gary Shteyngart Ambulance Copy Share Image
I write five, six days a week. The thing is capturing the voice. I feel like I've been perfecting one voice -… — Gary Shteyngart Different Copy Share Image
“This is the superhumanity of the immigrant, but woe be to the all-too-human offspring living in the shadow of such strength.” — Gary Shteyngart Immigration Copy Share Image
The best thing about the iPhone is this that tells me where I am all the time. There's never a need to… — Gary Shteyngart About Copy Share Image
