The Fun Parts - Softcover

"Lipsyte . . . may be the most consistently funny fiction writer working today. Satire is second nature to him." --Bryan Walsh, "TIME""[Lipsyte] can't be matched . . . Read ["The Fun Parts"] with "The Ask" if you really want to know how a mordant jokester with a madman's imagination became a literary rock star." --Janet Maslin, "The New York Times""[Lipsyte] is producing some of the purest social satire written today." --Matthew Love, "Time Out New York""Lipsyte expertly works the line between hilarity and pathos." --Ben Fountain, "The New York Times Book Review""In this second story collection, fierce satire mingles with warmth and pathos as Lipsyte ("The Ask") showcases his knack for stylistic variety and tangles with the thorny human experiences of moving beyond one's past or shedding one's personal baggage . . . Lipsyte's biting humor suffuses the collection, but it's his ability to control the relative darkness of each moment that makes the stories so engrossing." --"Publishers"'" Weekly" (starred review)

A boy eats his way to self-discovery while another must battle the reality-brandishing monster preying on his fantasy realm. Meanwhile, an aerobics instructor, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, makes the most shocking leap imaginable to save her soul. Bold, hilarious and darkly affecting, Lipsyte's stories combine the tragicomic dazzle of his beloved novels and the compressed vitality of his classic debut collection. The Fun Parts is Lipsyte at his best - an exploration of new voices and vistas from a writer Time magazine has said 'everyone should read'.