BookCourt
163 Court St. between Dean & Pacific Sts.
Tuesday, May 3, free, 7:00
718-875-3677
www.bookcourt.org
www.supersadtruelovestory.com
Gary Shteyngart’s third novel, following 2003’s hugely successful The Russian Debutante’s Handbook and 2006’s Absurdistan, paints a wildly inventive and entertaining dystopian picture of New York City in the just-barely-distant future. In the New York Times Notable Book Super Sad True Love Story, now available in paperback (Random House, May 3, $15), the American government, the so-called “Restoration authority,” is falling to the Central Chinese Bank and Norwegian oil overlords while the Harm Reduction program rids Manhattan of the last remaining poor and unattractive. AssLuxury has replaced Amazon for constant consumption. All the while, hapless Russian Jewish immigrant schlemiel Lenny pursues the beautiful young Eunice to the home of her Korean immigrant parents and back. It all goes down against a backdrop of always-on äppärät (thinly disguised iPhones and such), 24/7 personal broadcasting, and corporations like the one run by Lenny’s childhood friend and boss, who sells immortality. Everything is just slightly ahead of where it is now, except the human emotions driving the super sad love story of the title. The New York City-based, Leningrad-born Shteyngart will be at BookCourt in Brooklyn on May 3 for the paperback release party of this hilarious tome about a ludicrous world that is uncomfortably close to our own.