BOOKS: Gary Shteyngart, author of Absurdistan and Super Sad True Love Story

Columbia J-school's MA in Arts and Culture program presents the first in a series of interviews with intriguing artists in various fields. Gary Shteyngart, whose most recent novel, "Absurdistan," was chosen as one of the 10 best books of 2006 by The New York Times Book Review and Time magazine, will be interviewed by Nicola Shepheard and Shirine Saad. He teaches "Strangers in a Strange Land" here at Columbia University School of the Arts. His fiction and essays have also appeared in several publications including  the New Yorker. Anchored in Russia but colored by the American experience, his work has been published in 17 countries. His next novel, the most keenly anticipated "Super Sad True Love Story," will hit bookstores in August.