Gary Shteyngart Pays a Visit to Blurbistan

Today's random book mail to SOTC headquarters brought a wealth of titles, all of which turned out to have been blurbed by the same man, whose store of karma must really be incredible right now. "Subtle and brilliant" went to Valeria's Last Stand, by Marc Fitten; "Antic and ingenious" was affixed to Aleksandar Hemon's Love and Obstacles; and "A bastard child of John Updike and Mordecai Richler" belongs to How to Sell, the first novel by the philosopher Clancy Martin. VLS is Fitten's debut as well, which means both he and Martin should soon be ready to write their prizewinning follow-ups in 800 square feet of "quiet, serene, and wonderful" residential space that just hit the market and is priced to sell.