Journalist Edward Champion has released “Shteyngart Blurbs,” a short documentary looking at the life and book blurbs of Gary Shteyngart (along with the history of blurbs).

We’ve embedded the complete film above, including cameos from some great writers, Jacob Silverman‘s cat and the Totally Hip Book reviewer. Check out The Collected Blurbs of Gary Shteyngart Tumblr to read some of his work.

Here’s more about the film: “Narrated by Jonathan Ames, this fifteen minute documentary investigates Gary Shteyngart’s prolific book blurbing, talking with the the many authors who have been blurbed by Gary, book critics, journalists, editors, book jacket designers, and even the man who created a Tumblr devoted to Shteyngart’s blurbs. Features Ron Charles, A.J. Jacobs, A.M. Homes, Molly Ringwald, Karen Russell, Dinaw Mengestu, and many more! (Music licensed through Friendly Music.)”

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Jacob Silverman created a Tumblr site dedicated to archiving The Collected Blurbs of Gary Shteyngart, collecting the author’s praise for books by authors ranging from Molly Ringwald to Adam Wilson to Lev Grossman. You can also follow Shteyngart on Twitter.

Check it out:  ”The Shteyngart blurb has become almost a seal of approval that, while comical in the sheer amount of books he’s actually blurbed, are actually really good ways to tell if you’re going to like a book or not … The Collected Blurbs of Gary Shteyngart, Live brings together John Wray, Rachel Shukert, Adam Wilson, Gideon Lewis-Kraus and Karolina Waclawiak (as well as a few words from Silverman), all authors blurbed by Mr. Shteyngart, for a night of readings and tribute to the Russian-born oligarch of back cover quotes..” (Photo via Mark Coggins; link via Sarah Weinman)

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“The Harvest Moon” opens her upcoming book, When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories. The book comes out on August 14th–you can follow Ringwald on Facebook and Twitter if you want more updates. Here are the first few sentences. Follow this link to read the whole story:

As far as Greta knew, there was nothing in the sky that night.

Lying on her back in the bathroom on the cool of the white marble tiles, she heard the summons again. Her husband tapped the horn of the car: one long, noisy beep followed by two shorter taps, as if in apology. She strained to close the zipper on a pair of jeans without pinching the soft flesh of her midsection. It was a task she found both onerous and humiliating, primarily since she had purchased the pair less than a month ago, having gone through the same depressing experience with every other pair that lay folded in her dresser.

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The star of classic 1980s movies like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink She just published a new book, Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick. As she hits 40-years-old, the book focuses on showing other women how to be “the sexiest, funniest, smartest, well dressed, and most confident woman that you can be.”

Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “‘At some point, my therapist told me I should stop dating writers and be a writer,’ she said, and that’s how Ringwald the author was born. ‘I finally feel like I can call myself a writer now, rather than writing being just something I do on the side, as a dilettante.’ Although she never reads anything written about herself, she has become an enthusiastic blogger lately, typing out occasional 200-word entries at IAmMollyRingwald.com.”

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