My parents were constantly afraid they would lose their jobs. The idea that we were always a paycheck away from disaster was… — Gary Shteyngart Disaster Copy Share Image
If my mother hadn't tried to sell me chicken Kiev cutlets for $1.40 after I graduated from college, maybe I would've been… — Gary Shteyngart Chickens Copy Share Image
The radio station was playing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, a sure sign that things were much worse than they appeared. — Gary Shteyngart Lakes Copy Share Image
“I reveled in the smallness, the coziness of an upstairs bedroom in a traditional American Cape Cod house the half-floor that forces… — Gary Shteyngart Awkward Copy Share Image
A writer or any suffering artist-to-be is just an instrument too finely set to the human condition [...] — Gary Shteyngart Art Copy Share Image
Vodka is a wonderful drink. You can drink so much of it without being as hung over as you would if you… — Gary Shteyngart Appetizers Copy Share Image
“But I knew it wasn't just the cute girl on the screen that had made Eunice cry. It was her father laughing,… — Gary Shteyngart Forgiveness Copy Share Image
I took an acting class with Louise Lasser, Woody Allen's first wife and co-star in many movies. I've done some other indie… — Gary Shteyngart Acting Copy Share Image
“And the looks on the faces of my countrymenpassive heads bent arms at their trousers everyone guilty of not being their best… — Gary Shteyngart America Copy Share Image
“I remember reading the Times in the subway, folding it awkwardly while leaning against the door, caught up in the words, worried… — Gary Shteyngart Beauty Copy Share Image
America should treasure its rare, true original voices and Mark Leyner is one of them. So treasure him already, you bastards! — Gary Shteyngart America Copy Share Image
Remember this... develop a sense of nostalgia for something, or you'll never figure out what's important. — Gary Shteyngart Figures Copy Share Image
“The humiliation of growing up a Jew in the Soviet Union, of cleaning piss-stained bathrooms in the States, of worshiping a country… — Gary Shteyngart Shame Copy Share Image
“with a singlemindedness common only to former Soviet interior-ministry troops and first-year law students” — Gary Shteyngart Copy Share Image
“Forget the fountain of youth, pal of mine. You can live to be a thousand, and it won't matter. Mediocrities like you… — Gary Shteyngart Deserve Copy Share Image
American fiction is good. It would be nice if somebody read it. — Gary Shteyngart American Copy Share Image
I like the map feature on the iPhone that tells me where I am, because I travel a lot. — Gary Shteyngart Am Copy Share Image
“The truth is this: The rich will rule even at a place like Oberlin, where their kind is technically forbidden. They will… — Gary Shteyngart Capitalism Copy Share Image
“A few hours later, lying on a mat during rest time, Vladimir embraced the tiny curled-up creature beside him, his first best… — Gary Shteyngart Side by side Copy Share Image
“Whatever you may think of Judaism, Lyuba, in the end it’s just a codified system of anxieties.” — Gary Shteyngart Copy Share Image
When civilization takes a nose dive, how can you look away? You've got to be there. You've got to be at the… — Gary Shteyngart Away Copy Share Image
