The Ask: A Novel
Sam Lipsyte

Milo Burke, a development officer at a third-tier university, has “not been developing”: after a run-in with a well-connected undergrad, he finds himself among the burgeoning class of the newly unemployed. Grasping after odd jobs to support his wife and child, Milo is offered one last chance by his former employer: he must reel in a potential donor—a major “ask”—who, mysteriously, has requested Milo’s involvement. But it turns out that the ask is Milo’s sinister college classmate Purdy Stuart. And the “give” won’t come cheap. Probing many themes— or, perhaps, anxieties—including work, war, sex, class, child rearing, romantic comedies, Benjamin Franklin, cooking shows on death row, and the eroticization of chicken wire, The Ask is a burst of genius by a young American master who has already demonstrated that the truly provocative and important fictions are often the funniest ones.

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Amazon Rating:
US$16.50
(As of Sep 05 15:48 , info)

1 review from Arts and Design blogs:

We Love You So - Where The Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze 09 Mar 10:
... If you haven’t bought yourself a copy of Sam Lipsyte’s new book The Ask, now would be the time to run out and do it. Failing that, ask around amongst your friends and see if anyone else has scored a copy yet. Very few books qualify as smart, pee-your-pants funny, and deadly relevant all at the same time. In this regard, Lipsyte hits the bullseye. Witness, for proof, this head-over-heels rave from Lydia Millet in the New York Times Book Review, wherein she described the book as one of very few “half-Âcrippled, doughnut-gobbling man-apes of the literary world, ” which ...

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1 review from Thinkers blogs:

The Rumpus.net 26 May 10:
... Tomorrow, Thursday May 27, at 9pm EST (6pm PST) Sam Lipsyte will give a live online reading from his book The Ask over at HTMLGIANT. The reading will be followed by a question and answer period. Mark your calender! ...

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