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    Hark
    Hark
    Hark
    Audiobook7 hours

    Hark

    Written by Sam Lipsyte

    Narrated by Sam Lipsyte

    3/5

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    About this audiobook

    An “extremely funny...brilliantly alive” (The New York Times Book Review) social satire of the highest order from bestselling author Sam Lipsyte, centered around an unwitting mindfulness guru and the phenomenon he initiates.

    In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental catastrophe, and spiritual confusion, so many of us find ourselves anxious and distracted, searching desperately for peace, salvation, and—perhaps most immediately—just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, a failed stand-up comic turned mindfulness guru whose revolutionary program is set to captivate the masses. But for Fraz and Tovah, a middle-aged couple slogging through a very rough patch, it may take more than the tenets of Hark’s “Mental Archery” to solve the riddles of love, lust, work, and parenthood on the eve of civilizational collapse. And given the sudden power of certain fringe players, including a renegade Ivy League ethicist, a gentle Swedish kidnapper, a social media tycoon with an empire on the skids, and a mysteriously influential (but undeniably slimy) catfish, it just might be too late. But what’s the point of a world, even a blasted-out post-apocalyptic world, if they don’t try with all their might to keep their marriage alive?

    In this “awfully funny...tartly effective sendup of 21st-century America” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis) Sam Lipsyte 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. “Recommended reading” (Vanity Fair), in which “every line feels as thrillingly charged as a live wire” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Hark is a smart, incisive look at men, women, and children seeking meaning and dignity in a chaotic, ridiculous, and often dangerous world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJan 15, 2019
    ISBN9781508268642
    Author

    Sam Lipsyte

    Sam Lipsyte is the author of the story collections Venus Drive and The Fun Parts and four novels: Hark, The Ask (a New York Times Notable Book), The Subject Steve, and Home Land, which was a New York Times Notable Book and received the Believer Book Award. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Best American Short Stories, among other places. The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, he lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.

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    Reviews for Hark

    3/5

    26 ratings3 reviews

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    • 2/5
      this is the second book of the day u have tried. the first, a few days ago, was crude and badly written. this one was well written at least,but completely meaningless to me. I have no idea what the author is trying to say.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Hark is the name of a new age guru who preaches mental archery to corporate groups, a motivational speaker which a message about how focusing can change your life. He is charismatic enough but his popularity seems to be in spite of his own belief in himself. He has an entourage of friends/promoters who set up gigs and update his main website. The main one, Fraz, is your typical Lipsyte character, "underemployed, middle-aged New York Jewish protagonists with abandoned artistic dreams, cheating wives and snack-food obsessions."(NYT)I enjoyed the writing and the ideas especially in the first half of the novel. The banter and irony remind me of Joseph Heller. This novel is like a Catch 22 of slightly distant future. However, I feel like the ending meandered into too many arteries: world at war, the president dead, -still funny but it's vision a bit frayed. But, like I said, sometimes a good observation about the inane direction of the world made the reading worth it.
    • 4/5
      I have read a few books by Sam Lypsyte. He is a very talented satirical writer with funny and keen observations about our culture etc. Hark is about a guru and those that follow him. It is a good send off on all of the various issues that are going on in our world. The plot is all over the place but what makes this a worthwhile read is the high level of the writing. Lypsyte is very creative and funny. I can read him just for his hilarious and creative prose. If you have never read him before then I suggest you start with his novel "The Ask". If you enjoy that then you will like all of his stuff.