Maybe it takes a showman like Absurdistan author Gary Shteyngart to make a book trailer that’s actually funny (watch it below, premiered exclusively on Vulture). It doesn’t hurt that in promoting his third novel, the dystopian satire Super Sad True Love Story, the author managed to wrangle James Franco, his former student at Columbia’s MFA program, for a supporting role. Jay McInerney also pops in and proves himself a surprisingly deft actor, especially when surrounded by very young women. As for the rest of the guest writers — Edmund White, Mary Gaitskill, Jeffrey Eugenides — judge for yourself.