{"product_id":"hark-9781501146077","title":"Hark","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn \"extremely funny...brilliantly alive\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e) social satire of the highest order from bestselling author Sam Lipsyte, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ecentered around an unwitting mindfulness guru and the phenomenon he initiates.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental catastrophe, and spiritual confusion, so many of us find ourselves anxious and distracted, searching desperately for peace, salvation, and--perhaps most immediately--just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, a failed stand-up comic turned mindfulness guru whose revolutionary program is set to captivate the masses. But for Fraz and Tovah, a middle-aged couple slogging through a very rough patch, it may take more than the tenets of Hark's \"Mental Archery\" to solve the riddles of love, lust, work, and parenthood on the eve of civilizational collapse. And given the sudden power of certain fringe players, including a renegade Ivy League ethicist, a gentle Swedish kidnapper, a social media tycoon with an empire on the skids, and a mysteriously influential (but undeniably slimy) catfish, it just might be too late. But what's the point of a world, even a blasted-out post-apocalyptic world, if they don't try with all their might to keep their marriage alive? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this \"awfully funny...tartly effective sendup of 21st-century America\" (\u003ci\u003eStar Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e, Minneapolis) Sam Lipsyte reaches new peaks of daring in a novel that revels in contemporary absurdity and the wild poetry of everyday language while exploring the emotional truths of his characters. \"Recommended reading\" (\u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e), in which \"every line feels as thrillingly charged as a live wire\" (\u003ci\u003eO, The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003eHark\u003c\/i\u003e is a smart, incisive look at men, women, and children seeking meaning and dignity in a chaotic, ridiculous, and often dangerous world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSam Lipsyte is the author of the story collections \u003ci\u003eVenus Drive\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Fun Parts \u003c\/i\u003eand four novels: \u003ci\u003eHark\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Ask (\u003c\/i\u003ea\u003ci\u003e New York Times \u003c\/i\u003eNotable Book), \u003ci\u003e The Subject Steve\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHome Land\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book and received the Believer Book Award. His fiction has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e Best American Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, among other places. The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, he lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50515517243666,"sku":"9781501146077","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b5ff8c24-1609-4873-b03f-52400a548e0d.jpg?v=1731005961","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/hark-9781501146077","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}