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Home » Video » Need To Know | Gary Shteyngart on Facebook and the end of America

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  • Need to Know

Need To Know | Gary Shteyngart on Facebook and the end of America | PBS

Duration: 10:23
Program: Need to Know #116
Broadcast Date: Aug. 20, 2010

How much of what ails America can be blamed on Facebook? According to best-selling author Gary Shteyngart, quite a lot. Shteyngart's new satirical novel, "Super Sad True Love Story," imagines a world in which the American economy has collapsed and people no longer read. People communicate primarily in online slang, through smart phones and social networking sites. Shteyngart speaks with NEED TO KNOW's Jon Meacham about nostalgia for communication in an ever-digitizing world, the heroism of immigration, and his childhood novel -- commissioned by his grandmother -- starring Lenin and a magical goose.

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Post Date: August 21, 2010