{"product_id":"the-ask-a-novel","title":"The Ask: A Novel","description":"From the author of Home Land and Venus Drive comes Sam Lipsyte's searing, beautiful, and deeply comic novel, The Ask.\n\nA New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice\n\nMilo 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.\n\nProbing 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 The Ask is a burst of genius by an author who has already demonstrated that the truly provocative and important fictions are often the funniest ones.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0312680635\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.0312680635.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Lipsyte, Sam\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41449635479610,"sku":"DBV.0312680635.G","price":4.09,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/0312680635-0.jpg?v=1780895076","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/the-ask-a-novel","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}