175 Quotes by Gary Shteyngart

My parents were constantly afraid they would lose their jobs. The idea that we were always a paycheck away from disaster was drilled into me.

If you're not fascinated by Korea yet, you damn well should be. The most innovative country on earth deserves a hilarious and poignant account on the order of Euny Hong's The Birth of Korean Cool. Her phat beats got Gangnam Style and then some.

The only way to write about right now is to write about the future.

All of my books have an element of a man who is in love with somebody and needs them desperately, not just for procreation but for being able to fully unbosom himself. He only feels comfortable discussing things with women. Which is funny, because 80 percent of readers are women!

People always write on my Facebook that they've seen somebody they thought was me on the subway, and I was cursing badly.

Asthmatic immigrant learns to breathe by writing.

My first book really did change my life. It allowed me to fully express myself. There was a sense that I was worth something as an artist.

That's what tyrants do, I guess. They make you covet their attention; they make you confuse attention for mercy.

Remember this... develop a sense of nostalgia for something, or you'll never figure out what's important.