In an America where everyone is searching for something to give them peace and purpose, a new guru is about to take the stage. 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 acolytes and pilgrims have other ideas

Hark is a very funny satire exploring the absurdity and meaninglessness of life in modern America, told with panache and wit.

Hark by Sam Lipsyte is a social satire about a man promoting himself as a guru of techniques of mental archery.

Sam Lipsyte's first novel since his 2010 book 'The Ask' takes on contemporary culture by addressing the role of cults.

Failed stand-up comedian, Hark, sells fake spiritualism to tech executives in this bizarrely hilarious novel in which his programme warps into a different beast.

Whilst there are witty, satirical moments reminiscent of Paul Beatty's 'The Sellout', the lack of character development, confusing structure, and at times, plot, made this a difficult story to follow. There were no likeable characters and it becomes more and more ridiculous by the end.

I really wanted to like this novel, but it falls short of its potential.

This book is set at some not too very distant time and place in the future where a dysfunctional couple called Fraz and Tovah Penzig get involved with an up-and-coming guru called Hark Morner who has developed this wonderful new strategy known as Mental Archery. Along with Kate, a wealthy donor, and a damaged woman called Teal they become part of Hark’s inner group tracking his rise to fame, the appropriation of his approaches by big business and an eventual tragic end.

The book is a satire, presumably of modern American life, and there are constant asides and throwaway lines referring to that country’s culture. So we get a subtext on childhood through the couple’s two children, David and Lisa, while Kate’s story drifts into healthcare as she spend her time transporting organs around the country for rich people. There is quite a bit in the book about mental archery with its potted philosophy, fake references to history, and the poses to adopt – as people use it for their own bizarre purposes.

Like a lot of American satire, the book takes itself quite seriously. Most English satire is based on ‘taking the piss’ out of institutions (sorry, there isn’t a better word) and comic situations but Hark is kind of serious in its unfolding although we are expected to laugh knowingly. That for me, is a weakness in the book. It tries too hard to be clever and knowing as if the author says follow me if you can.

It is also difficult to get involved in the characters. Fraz and Tovah have a collapsing relationship and Teal, someone who should probably be the last person to help, is counselling them. There is plenty that comes out of this but it is somehow undeveloped and it is then hard to feel sympathy for Fraz after Lisa falls into a coma when he has thrown her into a tree trunk while trying to be a good father.

I didn’t really enjoy the book but I can see it might appeal to a certain millennial perspective. It’s generally pretty bleak about the prospects for humanity!

The book goes all mystical at the end and Hark undergoes a bit of a resurrection and turns up to meet his followers in their last moments. Is that supposed to make us think some of this could just possibly be real or is it a bit more satire as the world continues to collapse into anarchy? You can take your pick.

A fun and irreverent story satirising cultural fandom. We all have our price and eventually succumb to our capitalists overlords.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Sam Lipsyte’s latest novel is an erudite, irreverent social satire of the contemporary obsession with the various wellness cults and inspirational gurus that peddle strange techniques to people who are searching for peace and refuge from the realities and uncertainties of modern life.

The novel focuses on a group of people, in near-future America, who are followers of Hark Morner, a modern motivational guru who is famous for developing a technique called “mental archery” - a mix of mindfulness and yoga exercises that basically just encourages people to focus. As you might expect, his followers are an assortment of privileges, yet damaged, people who essentially project their hopes, fears, and desires onto Hark, and attempt in various ways to popularise and profit from Hark’s mental archery techniques.

The book is darkly humorous, and its biggest strength definitely lies in the dialogues between the assortment of unlikeable, neurotic characters, however, despite some brilliant moments and sharp observations of modern society, I felt that the book as a whole, somewhat ironically, lacked a clear focus, and loses momentum because of too many subplots and perspectives. At the same time, it’s a very topical book that truly engages with the issues of our troubled times, and is the book equivalent of a good friend that provides support on those days when you get annoyed and angry with the everyday realities of modern life.

‘He came to us and was golden-y.’

I really wanted to love this book, and for the opening pages I felt that I would. With a hint of Douglas Coupland, I felt we were in zeitgeist territory, a satire for our time, casting a super-critical eye on beliefs, religion, big business, the internet, and health-food cafes…. The story of Hark Morner, a stand-up comedian turned guru (or messiah) who may or may not actually believe in anything he says. However, he is surrounded by his disciples of Harkism, who espouse the idea of Mental Archery – part mysticism, part yoga, part mindfulness, part archery – mostly to fill the spaces in their empty, sad lives. In the background, incidental to the plot but saying everything about the inanity of modern America, a major war rages in Europe involving American forces.

But, I’m afraid to say the book got away from me. The characters didn’t really involve me, and the relentless negativity of the satire actually started to wear me down (OK, yes I know what satire is supposed to do, but this felt like overkill). The plot took a pretty obvious course, too, and the book seemed to veer more into a religious satire than anything else, challenging along the way any actual belief system that happened to wander past. Some of the writing was genuinely funny, but the book just seemed to run out of steam. I’ve tried to avoid spoilers so I won’t focus on particular moments, but what springs to mind is one of Hark’s own thoughts from the book: ‘there isn’t a message.’

A nice idea, and I can see why some might find it a searing satire on modern-day society. For me, not so much. A less scattergun approach may have worked better. Because some of the writing was actually very good, and for the moments of genuine comedy, I give it 3 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of the book.)

People in the USA are always in need of something to believe in. Hark Morner, and his idea of mental archery, is the latest hogwash that it latches on to. It isn't long before his entourage is trying to monetise the new cult. This is more of a novel of ideas than a character driven story. Nobody is very likeable.

Acute social satire, a sardonic take on contemporary morals and lifestyle; Lipsyte's novel is an enjoyable idea-driven novel, in the sense that neither the characters, the anti-hero Hark, nor the plot are more important than skewering celebrity culture and modern life.