{"product_id":"books-the-ask-by-sam-lipsyte","title":"The Ask","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eHome Land\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eVenus 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\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e 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, Sam Lipsyte's \u003ci\u003eThe Ask\u003c\/i\u003e is a burst of genius by an author who has already demonstrated that the truly provocative and important fictions are often the funniest ones.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World of Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53767668269329,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780312680633.jpg?v=1783938183","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/books-the-ask-by-sam-lipsyte","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}