On November 7, a special reading at WORD in Brooklyn will celebrate the blurbs that novelist Gary Shteyngart has bestowed upon other books.

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)

In a bookselling world filled with memoirs, it requires some ingenuity and online work to make your work stand out from the pack.

Today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu was author Rachel Shukert, talking about her newly released memoir, Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour. Shukert shared advice for aspiring memoirists about creating a unique book and writing frankly about one’s personal life.

Here’s an excerpt, as the author explained how she will use CafePress to promote her book: “I’m designing a CafePress site with themed merchandise–which is honestly more of a stunt than I think anybody will buy it. But I think it could be funny … there were a lot of funny phrases and things and thoughts I had in the book that I thought would be funny merchandise … there will be tote bags and buttons and underpants that will somehow reference funny scenes in the book.”

Read more

Last night memoirist, editor, and rock & roll scribe Mike Edison launched the paperback edition of “I Have Fun Everywhere I Go” with a blazing set by Boss Hog. So blazing, in fact, that one GalleyCat editor’s videocamera couldn’t handle the punk rock book party at the Manhattan club, Bowery Electric.

The camera worked, however. Here, Edison is pictured between cartoonist John Holmstrom and Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye. They were two of the many musical and literary stars at the event enjoying free beer and White Castle sliders.

GalleyCat caught up with Rachel Shukert, who is finishing her follow-up to “Have You No Shame?” Oddly enough, her new memoir combines the influences of Elizabeth Gilbert and George Orwell. We also chatted with Denise Oswald about her plans as the newly minted editorial director of Soft Skull Press.