{"product_id":"the-ask-9780312680633","title":"The Ask","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eHome Land \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Venus Drive\u003c\/i\u003e comes Sam \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eLipsyte's\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003esearing, beautiful, and deeply comic novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Ask.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA\u003ci\u003e New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMilo 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eProbing 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, Sam Lipsyte's \u003ci\u003eThe Ask \u003c\/i\u003eis a burst of genius by an author who has already demonstrated that the truly provocative and important fictions are often the funniest ones.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSam Lipsyte \u003c\/b\u003ewas born in 1968. He is the author of the story collections \u003ci\u003eVenus Drive\u003c\/i\u003e (named one of the top twenty-five books of its year by the Voice Literary Supplement) and \u003ci\u003eThe Fun Parts \u003c\/i\u003eand several novels: \u003ci\u003eThe Ask\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe 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 first annual Believer Book Award. He is also the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50523533639954,"sku":"9780312680633","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8c6ea4e5-da83-4c8c-845f-4245e4ff1b36.jpg?v=1731151045","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-ask-9780312680633","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}