I did my first interview with Gary Shteyngart 19 years ago. He was on a
book tour for his first novel and he came out to our studios in Yellow
Springs to talk about it. I'll never forget that day. He was hilarious.
And I knew right then that Gary had a great future ahead of him. And it
was true. His new novel "Our Country Friends" is an instant New York
Times bestseller, it's on lots of best of 2021 book lists, and yada yada
yada.
Gary was writing a blog on that first book tour. Here's what he wrote
about his visit that day:
"What a difference a day makes. It was sunny and warm over in Yellow
Springs, OH, home to Antioch College and to WYSO, a killer little NPR
station, with a killer little radio program called Book Nook staffed by
a killer host named Vick Mickunas. Kilogram for kilogram, he is one of
the best radio hosts I've ever been interviewed by. He's up there with
Terry Gross, I tell you. He knew my book, paragraph by paragraph. What a
pleasure! Then, I waltzed around the Antioch campus. It reminded me of
Oberlin, my progressive alma mater, except it was much scruffier, overgrown
with weeds, and boasting tons of graffiti. The big magenta scrawl
announcing I had entered a 'Queer Liberation Zone' was especially
tantalizing. 'Should I do something differently now?' I kept wondering.
'Pay less taxes? Wear another hat?' It made me very nostalgic for Oberlin,
especially after the previous day's visit to Cleveland."
"Afterwards, a very smart crowd awaited me at Books and Co. in Dayton,
Ohio. All agreed that Vick Mickunas, host of Book Nook, is a local
treasure. A woman studying to become a Methodist priest then took me out
to the nearest bar for a vodka triple. She frequently travels to St.
Petersburg, Russia, my hometown. She's helping to set up a church
school. 'Teach me all the curses,' she said, 'so I know what the kids
are saying.' I taught her. Amen."
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
