Sam Lipsyte, "Hark"

Sam Lipsyte reads and discusses his novel, "Hark", at Politics and Prose at Union Market on 1/18/19.

Lipsyte’s fourth novel is a wickedly funny social satire that looks closely at questions of meaning, hope, and how we can keep our balance in a world that seems seriously askew. His protagonist is Hark Morner, a failed comic who decides that what he needs—and possibly what everyone needs—is a little focus. Tossing together stray bits of mindfulness, mythology, history, and yoga, he comes up with a new practice called Mental Archery. It’s an instant hit. But Hark isn’t ready to be everyone’s guru, nor does he want to go along with his followers’ plans to commercialize the program. But just as he attempts to distance himself from the movement he created, circumstances call him back. The author of The Ask, The Subject Steve, and Home Land, Lipsyte brilliantly deploys absurdism to make us take a good look at ourselves.

About the Author

Sam Lipsyte is the author of the story collections Venus Drive (named one of the top twenty-five books of its year by the Voice Literary Supplement) and The Fun Parts and four novels: Hark, The Ask, The Subject Steve, and Home Land, which was a New York Times Notable Book and received the first annual Believer Book Award. He is also the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship. He lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.

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Produced by Tom Warren