Thursday, May 12, 2022
7 – 8 pm EDT
Zoom, Virtual Program

Join Gary Shteyngart and Claire Stanford for a conversation about what happiness means in today's fragmented world, and what technological advancements mean for the future of happiness. Moderated by Stephanie Butnick, host of Tablet's Unorthodox podcast.

To purchase a copy of Gary Shteyngart's Our Country Friends or Claire Stanford's Happy For You, please click here!

About the Speakers:

Claire Stanford's fiction has appeared in Black Warrior Review, The Rumpus, Third Coast, Redivider, Paper Darts, and Tin House Flash Fridays, among other publications. Her work has received fellowships and grants from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, and the Hambridge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in English at UCLA, where she studies science fiction/speculative fiction, narrative theory, and novel theory. Her debut novel, Happy For You, will be published by Viking on April 19, 2022.

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 named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, as well as Best Book of the Year by Time, The Washington Post Book World, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. He has been selected as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, and Travel + Leisure, and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Stephanie Butnick is a deputy editor of Tablet Magazine and a host of the Unorthodox podcast. She is the author, along with her co-hosts, of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar's and Everything in Between. She has also written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. 

Co-presented by Jewish Book Council, the Jewish Museum, and Tablet Magazine.

Free with RSVP

This program is presented with live CART interpretation. The Jewish Museum is committed to making its virtual programs accessible to all. For inquiries and requests for additional accommodations please email info@thejm.org or call 212.423.3200 ext. 0.