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
The Complete Fiction of Francis Wyndham
Written by David
Friday, 10 July 2009
by Francis Wyndham (NYRB Classics, $16.95)
I'm sort of surprised to be recommending a collection of short stories--I'm not usually a fan of the form. This excellent collection, though, has made me rethink. Long out of print, Francis Wyndham is a writer of surprising subtlety. His work is movingly crafted and very memorable. My favorite is the short Whitbread Prize-winning novel The Other Garden. I literally haven't been able to stop thinking about it.
I'm sort of surprised to be recommending a collection of short stories--I'm not usually a fan of the form. This excellent collection, though, has made me rethink. Long out of print, Francis Wyndham is a writer of surprising subtlety. His work is movingly crafted and very memorable. My favorite is the short Whitbread Prize-winning novel The Other Garden. I literally haven't been able to stop thinking about it.