Gary Shteyngart

Like, when you describe that, right, it does, like, mid, late mid-20th century male writing was very horny.

Yeah.

And, like, 2020's writing is very nervous.

Yeah.

Yeah.

My students call this the sad girl novel.

And there have been some amazing sad girl novels.

The Year of Rest and Relaxation is probably...

To me, it reads like a really cool, smart and funny version of that.

I think sometimes what I lack and not always, but what I kind of look for in the neurosis novel is a sense of is a sense of humor that almost leads you into a path of joy.

You know, I teach a class called So You Want to Write Funny at Columbia.

And for example, you know, we teach talk about neurosis like we teach.

I teach a port noise complaint, you know.

And that is, obviously, it's all set in a psychiatrist's office.

It's this neurotic, horny Jew.

Like, they don't make him anymore, right?

And he's just chomping at the bit to get out of his particular identity and just to have sex with every non-Jewish woman he can find.

And that is, I mean, wrong in many ways, but also really, really funny.

The pursuit of it is very, very funny.

Look, super sad is... The word sad is the second part of the second word in the title, but I hope that Lenny...