Hark

Description

'The world needed more Sam Lipsyte and Lipsyte, knowing this, perhaps, has given us Hark. It's a stellar work by a great satirist, an uncanny observer, a keen stylist, a truly fine and thrilling writer.' - Patrick deWitt, author of The Sisters Brothers In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental collapse and spiritual confusion, many folks are searching for peace, salvation, and - perhaps most immediately - just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, an unwitting guru whose technique of 'Mental Archery' - a combination of mindfulness, mythology, fake history, yoga, and, well, archery - is set to captivate the masses and raise him to near-messiah status. It's a role he never asked for, and one he is woefully underprepared to take on. But his inner-circle of modern pilgrims have other plans, as do some suddenly powerful fringe players, including a renegade Ivy League ethicist, a gentle Swedish kidnapper, a crossbow-hunting veteran of jungle drug wars, a social media tycoon with an empire on the skids, and a mysteriously influential (but undeniably slimy) catfish. In this social satire of the highest order, Sam Lipsyte, author of the bestselling novel The Ask and master of the form, reaches new peaks of daring in a novel that revels in contemporary absurdity and the wild poetry of everyday language while exploring the emotional truths of his characters - men, women and children seeking meaning and dignity in a chaotic, ridiculous and often dangerous world.

Sam Lipsyte, b.1968, is an American novelist and short story writer. He is the author of the short story collections Venus Drive and The Fun Parts (Granta, 2013) and three novels: The Subject Steve, Home Land, and The Ask, which was a New York Times Notable Book. He lives New York.