The Bookshelf

Movie trailers have gone a long way toward emphasizing a film’s strengths – or covering up its utter awfulness. A recent trend is to do the same for books, and many authors have taken to YouTube to help pitch their upcoming works to the masses.

One recent example that deserves particular mention is the trailer for Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story. Shteyngart has always been hilarious as a writer (many moments in Absurdistan left me gasping for breath), and the trailer demonstrates a similar talent. It features cameos from a number of contemporary literature’s giants, including Jeffrey Eugeniedes, Mary Gaitskill, and Jay McInerney, not to mention an actor famous for playing a certain Spider-villain.

Enjoy the trailer below. Have you seen any other notable book trailers? Share your favorites in the comments.