Téa Obreht & Gary Shteyngart
2011/2012 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series
Monday
March 26, 2012
7:30 pm
Cullen Theater, Wortham Center
501 Texas
Directions & parking
Tickets: $5 general admission BUY NOW!
Reading followed by an on-stage interview, book sale and signing. To order books by Obreht and Shteyngart, click here.
Submit questions for Téa Obreht & Gary Shteyngart here.
About Téa Obreht & Gary Shteyngart
TÉA OBREHT became an overnight literary sensation in spring 2011 when her debut novel, The Tiger's Wife, became a New York Times bestseller. With the chronic Balkans conflict as a backdrop, the story follows a young doctor who delves into the tales and secrets of her beloved, recently deceased grandfather. Entertainment Weekly calls it “[a] spectacular debut novel…[Téa] Obreht spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop.” Publishers Weekly says Obreht is “an expert at depicting history through aftermath, people through the love they inspire, and place through the stories that endure.” The book received the 2011 Orange Prize, making Obreht the youngest writer to receive the United Kingdom's highest award for a female novelist.
Born in 1985 in the former Yugoslavia, Obrecht spent most of her childhood in Cyprus and Egypt before her family immigrated to the United States in 1997. Obreht was the youngest writer named to The New Yorker’s “Best 20 Writers Under 40” and was also named in “Best 5 Writers Under 35” by the National Book Foundation. Colum McCann calls Obreht “the most thrilling literary discovery in years.”
GARY SHTEYNGART, described by the Seattle Times as “one of the most acclaimed, enjoyable — and unsettling — novelists working today,” was born in Leningrad in 1972 and came to the United States seven years later. His first novel, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, made a splash and won the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. It was also named a New York Times Notable Book and a best book of the year by The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly. His second novel, Absurdistan, was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review and Time magazine, and was named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune and Seattle Times. His most recent novel, Super Sad True Love Story, was an instant New York Times bestseller and was named to more than 40 “Best Books of the Year” lists including NPR's Fresh Air, the New York Times, Washington Post, and O Magazine.
Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times calls the novel “a supersad, superfunny, superaffecting performance,” and praises Shteyngart for “his abilities to write deeply and movingly about love and loss and mortality. It’s a novel that gives us a cutting comic portrait of a futuristic America, nearly ungovernable and perched on the abyss of fiscal collapse.” He was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists and a New Yorker “Best Writer Under 40,” and his novels have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Links:
Interview in The New Yorker for their "20 under 40" series
National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" page
Obreht reads from The Tiger's Wife on PBS (video)
Obreht wins Orange Award (reported from BBC)
Article about Obreht and the Orange Award in The Guardian
Article on The Tiger's Wife in The New York Times
Review of The Tiger's Wife from The New York Times Review of Books
New York Times review of Super Sad True Love Story by Michiko Kakutani
Trailer for paperback release of Super Sad True Love Story starring Paul Giamatti
Trailer for hardcover release of Super Sad True Love Story starring James Franco
NPR interview and article with Gary Shteyngart (includes audio)
The Guardian (includes audio of Shteyngart reading excerpts from Super Sad True Love Story)
Interview in the Paris Review