Gary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad, U.S.S.R. in 1972 and immigrated with his family to New York at the age of seven. Author of the critically acclaimed novels The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story, and Lake Success, his book trailers are viral hits and his collection of blurbs has earned him the tongue-in-cheek title of “master blurber." Shteyngart’s work has appeared in the New Yorker, Travel + Leisure, Esquire, GQ, the New York Times Magazine, and many other publications, and his books have been translated into 26 languages. Absurdistan was chosen as one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times Book Review and Time magazine. He was named a Granta Best Young American Novelist and a New Yorker “Best Writer Under 40.”