by Sam Lipsyte
First published 2010
Milo Burke works in development at a third-tier university until a confrontation with a connected student costs him his job. Now unemployed, he scrambles for work to support his wife and child. His former employer offers him one final opportunity: secure a major donation from a wealthy prospect who specifically requested Milo handle the approach. The catch reveals itself when Milo discovers the potential donor is Purdy Stuart, his menacing former college classmate. Stuart's willingness to give comes with conditions that promise to extract a steep personal price. As Milo navigates this treacherous negotiation, he confronts the gap between his current desperation and his past ambitions. The story examines contemporary anxieties about employment, parenthood, and class while maintaining a darkly comic tone throughout Milo's predicament.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
296 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux