Over his career, hes singularly rendered American cultures absurdities with flair, fun, and bits of melancholy.

Shteyngart is jumpy but curious here.

Yet it cant help but seem a little well-trodden all the same.

Gary Shteyngart, Lake Success CR: Random House

Credit: Random House

And thats the story of your gender writ large.

Its where you could feel the novels heartbeat, where you could strike an emotional connection.

Yet this is, predominantly, Barrys story.

Perhaps its the nature of what feels fresh, sharp, and needed in this bizarre new world.