“I'm here to have a dialogue with a person. And if I'm just gonna sit there and look down at my lap, well, speaking profoundly into my lap. That's not enough for me, I need to speak out--and entertain.” Gary Shteyngart’s new novel, Our Country Friends, is our November B&N Book Club pick, and it’s a charming (and provocative) story of friendship and the family we make. Gary joins us on the show to talk about how friendships evolve (or don’t), societal scorecards and lost paradises, why he wrote a memoir in his late thirties, the writers who’ve influenced him, from Chekhov to Chang-rae Lee, and more. Featured books: Our Country Friends, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Absurdistan and Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart. Produced/hosted by Miwa Messer and engineered by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays.