{"product_id":"ask-book-sam-lipsyte-9780374298913","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.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49547368661265,"sku":"GOR002992737","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49646472331537,"sku":"GOR012442900","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50348947865873,"sku":"CIN0374298912A","price":5.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50350843887889,"sku":"CIN0374298912G","price":4.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50814166204689,"sku":"GOR011217309","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52324192125201,"sku":"CIN0374298912VG","price":4.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0374298912.jpg?v=1751420963","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/ask-book-sam-lipsyte-9780374298913","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}