Sam Lipsyte has always been a funny, engrossing writer, but with this latest novel the author of Home Land, Venus Drive and The Subject Steve is staking his claim as the city's singular source for mordant laughter.
The Ask is the story of Milo Burke, a more-or-less employed development officer at a small university whose further solvency depends on his wooing of one major, mysterious donor. The book discusses, with varying levels of terror, "work, war, sex, class, child rearing, romantic comedies, Benjamin Franklin, cooking shows on death row, and the eroticization of chicken wire." Sam will be here to discuss the book with his celebrated editor at FSG, Lorin Stein.
News of Note
Staff Picks
Paper Monument #2
Written by Douglas
(Paper Monument, $10.00)
In only its second issue, PAPER MONUMENT is proving itself not the typical art-world shill mag but contrarian, insightful, and incredibly funny. An introduction comparing artists to businessmen, analysis of the conceptual nature of PR, and the emotionally tricky "slutty" photo/video art of Laura Nakadate grace this issue.
Purple Fashion
Written by Douglas
(Purple Fashion Magazine, $35.00)
The end-all be-all of fashion journals -- literate, sexy, inventive, filthy, and consistently envelope-pushing. When all the other pretenders have ceased publishing, PURPLE will still dazzle.
Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection
Written by Jessica
by Scott McCloud (Harper, $24.95)
McCloud is now best known for Understanding Comics, his classic exploration of the forms and structures of sequential art -- but before that he was the guy behind Zot, a teenage superboy from a fabulous alternate dimension who spends a lot of time hanging out in our broken, boring world. This is a masterwork that took over my life for a week: ominous villains, agonizing love triangles, innovative storytelling, and McCloud's commentary on his own work make this a great read for fans of superhero comics or big, fat Victorian novels.
In only its second issue, PAPER MONUMENT is proving itself not the typical art-world shill mag but contrarian, insightful, and incredibly funny. An introduction comparing artists to businessmen, analysis of the conceptual nature of PR, and the emotionally tricky "slutty" photo/video art of Laura Nakadate grace this issue. 
The end-all be-all of fashion journals -- literate, sexy, inventive, filthy, and consistently envelope-pushing. When all the other pretenders have ceased publishing, PURPLE will still dazzle.
McCloud is now best known for Understanding Comics, his classic exploration of the forms and structures of sequential art -- but before that he was the guy behind Zot, a teenage superboy from a fabulous alternate dimension who spends a lot of time hanging out in our broken, boring world. This is a masterwork that took over my life for a week: ominous villains, agonizing love triangles, innovative storytelling, and McCloud's commentary on his own work make this a great read for fans of superhero comics or big, fat Victorian novels.