-Hey, are you white?
Are you a "male."
Did you play lacrosse at 1
of these 14 schools?
-Ron, wait.
You're just copying
Gary Shteyngart's book trailer
for "Lake Success."
-Oh, honey, that --
that's ridiculous.
I have no --
I've never even seen this --
this video you're talking about.
-Look.
-Hey, are you white.
-Are you a "male."
-Did you play lacrosse
at one of these 14 schools?
-Huh?
That is just the most
remarkable coincidence.
-Should you even be reviewing
the novel
if you know the author?
-Oh, well, I don't really know
this Gary Shteyngart
you speak of.
-Don't readers expect
a certain critical distance?
-Well, yeah, but --
-And if you've been
exchanging insider e-mails --
-There are no e-mails!
-You're basically colluding with
the author to promote his novel.
-I did not collude
with that Russian.
-Uh-huh.
-"Lake Success" is a super-sad,
true love story
about Barry Cohen,
a wildly successful
hedge-fund manager.
Hedge funds are mostly a world
of white men,
because the work involves
a lot of complex math
and it's a massive scam.
As the novel opens, Barry's
gold-plated life is crashing.
He's just learned
that his 3-year-old son
is on the autism spectrum.
And the SEC is investigating him
for insider trading.
And his wife has humiliated him
at a dinner party.
-You have no imagination
and no soul.
-So Barry runs.
He decides to pack his suitcase
of expensive watches
and head across America to find
his old college girlfriend.
By bus, which is the best way
to really connect
with the authentic people
in this country,
people that don't even own
their own planes.
-So this jerk just abandons
his family and chases
after some woman in Texas
that he hasn't even
spoken to for years?
-You don't understand, Dawn.
It's like Jack Kerouac's
"On the Road Again."
-It's just "On the Road."
"On the Road Again"
is a song by Willie Nelson.
-Sure, Dawn.
Barry is free.
He's a romantic,
remaking the life he deserves,
like "The Great Gatsby."
-But on a bus,
begging for money,
selling crack in parking lots.
-But he's got such great plans,
like starting a foundation
to encourage vintage watch
collecting
among poor black youth.
-Have you actually read
"The Great Gatsby"?
-Surprisingly, pretty soon,
Barry is penniless
and friendless.
-Is he ruined and humiliated
and die in a ditch?
-Well, Dawn, this is America.
And if there's one thing
we've learned
from American literature,
it's that romantic,
self-absorbed white guys
must suffer, but not too much.
For the Totally Hip Video
Book Review, I'm Ron Charles,
hoping your next reading
investment pays off well.
Gary, call me.
