Gary Shteyngart: Vera, or Faith

Join award-winning writer Gary Shteyngart as he discusses his highly anticipated new novel, Vera, or Faith.

With a nod to Henry James's What Maisie Knew, Shteyngart's latest novel is rooted in the mind of an adopted child, half-Jewish, half-Korean Vera. All she wants in life is to make a friend, keep her parents together, and meet her birth mother, who might reveal the secrets of her identity. Through Vera's precocious, witty eyes, the reader perceives the crumbling relationships of the Bradford-Shmulkin family, a family composed of a heady 21st-century blend of influences. There's her father, a cash-strapped editor whose Russian heritage gives him a surprising new authority in the changing contemporary geopolitics; her mother, a Boston progressive struggling to hold the family together; and their blonde-haired, blue-eyed son—Vera's brother—whose heritage gives him pride of place in America's new political order.

A biting satire of modern American life, told with childlike wonder and tenderness, Vera, or Faith confirms Shteyngart as one of the most daring and perceptive writers of our times.

Featured book:

by Gary Shteyngart

About the event's guest:

Gary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad in 1972 and came to the United States seven years later. His debut novel, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, won the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. His second novel, Absurdistan, was one of the New York Times Book Review‘s 10 Best Books of the Year. His novel Super Sad True Love Story won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and became one of the most iconic novels of the decade. His memoir, Little Failure, was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. His books have been published in thirty countries. He lives in New York with his wife and son.

Further reading:

in LitHub

PLAN YOUR VISIT:

Location: Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street), 2nd floor

Time: Doors open 6:00pm, Event starts 7:00pm.

Tickets: Free registration required.

Ticket policy: We oversell these events to make sure that the greatest number of people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are guaranteed until 6:45pm or until capacity is reached. Any remaining space will be opened up to the rush line beginning at 6:45pm. Seating first come, first served. Tickets do not guarantee seats.

Bar: Beer/wine available for purchase (debit/credit only).

Accessibility: TPL is committed to accessibility. If you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation for this event, please contact [email protected] or 416-393-7099 at least three weeks prior to the event.

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

Info: Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. We'll have a bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as snacks, available to purchase.

Info: Miriam Toews signs copies of her book. Books are available for purchase at the event from a local bookseller.

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Host or Publisher Toronto Public Library