Pandas in attendance at Greenlight Books

Last Thursday saw the launch of Melville House‘s 200th title, The Fallback Plan by Leigh Stein, a hilarious debut novel that captures the youth zeitgeist and has been wowing the critics.

The Boston Globe writes that the novel is “not only funny, but also true….The Fallback Plan is a novel everyone under 30 will relate to with familiar pangs of self-loathing and sympathy.” ELLE magazine writes that ”Stein’s fluid style is peppered with wryness and pop-culture references…[she] seems poised to become the Lena Dunham of contemporary fiction.” O: The Oprah Magazine says The Fallback Plan is a book that “May Just Change Your Life in 2012.” And the NYLON Book Club call the novel “a hilariously touching reminder that getting older isn’t always easy….but it sure is entertaining.”

Stein celebrated the book launch to a standing-room-only crowd at Brooklyn’s Greenlight Books on Wednesday, where she discusses the writing process with Sadie Stein, deputy editor of The Paris Review. The crowd donned panda masks during Leigh’s reading of the “The Littlest Panda” sections of the novel, a Narnia-esque fantasy fairytale incorporated into the novel’s plot. (See video below.)

For those hoping to catch Leigh Stein on tour, she’ll be all over the country this month (and beyond) with readings at:

Jan. 10                  Anderson’s Books, 7:00pm                  Naperville, IL

Jan. 11                  Boswell Books, 7:00pm                        Milwaukee, WI

Jan. 13                  Women and Children First, 7:30pm        Chicago, IL

Jan. 14                  Helen Plum Memorial Library, 2:00pm   Lombard, IL

Jan. 16                  Vroman’s, 7:00pm                               Pasadena, CA

Jan. 17                  Booksmith, 7:30pm                             San Francisco, CA

Jan. 18                  Elliott Bay, 7:00pm                              Seattle, WA

Jan. 25                  Politics and Prose, 7:00pm                  Washington, D.C.

Jan. 26                  Bulls Head Books (UNC), 3:30pm          Chapel Hill, NC

Jan. 26                  Flyleaf, 7:00pm                                         Flyleaf, NC

Jan. 27                  Quail Ridge Books, 7:30pm                   Raleigh, NC

Be creative in order to stop thinking about boys...

Stein also writes an illustrated advice column for The Faster Times. In her latest column she advises a boyfriend-less woman to “become a writer” and to avoid “dating your restaurant manager, who is fifteen years your senior and says you guys can only go out if you promise not to tell anyone because he could lose his job.” Write in with a question of your own to: [email protected] and win a shot at a free signed copy of The Fallback Plan

And finally, two panda-tastic videos for your viewing pleasure. 1. The opening sections of the book, read over a video featuring a pill-popping Panda. 2. Leigh Stein discussing the book with Sadie Stein at Greenlight and reading to a crowd full of pandas.