I Wish, Therefore I Am
Published on 30. October 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
378 pages
978-1-64428-514-5 (ISBN)
Description
"We're composed of wishes as thoroughly as we're composed of water." So writes Gary Lippman in his latest book, a "literary wish list" that blends experimental memoir, surrealist adventure, and self-help meditation into one unforgettable ride.
I Wish, Therefore I Am is a mosaic of a singular American lifetime's worth of desires-and how those desires collide with a cast of recurring characters: a band of evil ninjas, a mysterious black-clad vagabond, and the ancient goddess of destiny herself, Dame Fortune.
The wishes in this book range from the fantastical to the deeply personal, invoking winged dinosaurs, whirling dervishes, the Rolling Stones, African proverbs, Amelia Earhart, Civil War-era missiles, Tarot cards, pirates, psychoanalysts, and a pair of eternally rolling dice-and that's just in the first six pages.
Comic, tragic, erotic, whimsical, and profound, I Wish, Therefore I Am is a tonic for these times.
I Wish, Therefore I Am is a mosaic of a singular American lifetime's worth of desires-and how those desires collide with a cast of recurring characters: a band of evil ninjas, a mysterious black-clad vagabond, and the ancient goddess of destiny herself, Dame Fortune.
The wishes in this book range from the fantastical to the deeply personal, invoking winged dinosaurs, whirling dervishes, the Rolling Stones, African proverbs, Amelia Earhart, Civil War-era missiles, Tarot cards, pirates, psychoanalysts, and a pair of eternally rolling dice-and that's just in the first six pages.
Comic, tragic, erotic, whimsical, and profound, I Wish, Therefore I Am is a tonic for these times.
Reviews / Votes
"I Wish, Therefore I Am is highly readable and just plain fun-an amusement park adventure with every turn of the page."-Jonathan Shaw "Anything Gary Lippman writes is going to be infused with playful wit, topsy-turvy observations, and sublime streaks of imagination-but I Wish, Therefore I Am is exceptionally so."-Eugene Hutz "Gary Lippman's generously discursive multiverse of a novel tackles every sized question about luck, fate, and wishes. It's a panoramic ride through stories and confession, with side trips to Borges, Captain Beefheart, William Blake, and hilarious country-and-western song titles. With I Wish, Therefore I Am, Lippman has unleashed a liberating new genre."
-Joan Juliet Buck "Shocking, tender, sexy, and a bit bananas. (There's even a bit about bananas. Literal bananas.) Thumb's up!"
-Danny Fields
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
California
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
318 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64428-514-5 (9781644285145)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Gary Lippman is the author of the novel Set the Controls for the Heart of Sharon Tate (2019) and the short story collection We Loved the World But Could Not Stay (2022). His play Paradox Lust was produced off-Broadway in 2001, and his journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, VICE, Literary Hub, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Lippman's work has been praised by novelist Tom Robbins, multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, musician Lydia Lunch, and actors Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco, and Matthew Rhys. Beyond writing, Lippman has served as a pro bono attorney with New York's Innocence Project, where DNA evidence is used to help exonerate the wrongfully convicted.