Sky Daddy - by Kate Folk (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Linda's life may appear drab to those around her: She makes $20 an hour as a content moderator, flagging comments that violate a tech conglomerate's terms and conditions. Every night, she returns to the windowless room she rents in a garage on the outskirts of San Francisco. But once a month, she indulges her true passion: taking the AirTrain to SFO for a clandestine meeting on the cheapest flight out that night. Linda isn't interested in pilots, though. She has a thing for planes; their intelligent windscreens, comely slats, and rumbling turbulence make her feel a way that no man ever could. In fact, she desperately believes her destiny is to marry one by uniting their souls for eternity in what the rest of us may vulgarly refer to as a plane crash-the fatal tailspin caused by the plane's uncontrollable desire for her. Linda's unusual proclivities distance her from the rest of humanity, so she's surprised and pleased when her charismatic work friend, Karina, invites her to a quarterly Vision Board Brunch. She wants to hasten her romantic fate through manifestation, but as her vision boards start coming true a bit too literally, Linda must choose between being her authentic self or abandoning her destiny for a more "normal" life"--

Book Synopsis

"[A] bizarre and endearing debut . . . We can't remember the last time we met a character this singular or read a book this funny."--Oprah Daily (Best New Books to Read This Spring)

"Sleek and darkly comical . . . with the melancholic wit and whimsy of Miranda July."--The Boston Globe

Cross the jet bridge with Linda, a frequent flyer with an unusual obsession, in this "audaciously imagined and surprisingly tender" (Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch) debut novel by the acclaimed author of Out There.

Linda is doing her best to lead a life that would appear normal to the casual observer. Weekdays, she earns $20 an hour moderating comments for a video-sharing platform, then rides the bus home to the windowless garage she rents on the outskirts of San Francisco. But on the last Friday of each month, she indulges her true passion, taking BART to SFO for a round-trip flight to a regional hub. The destination is irrelevant, because each trip means a new date with a handsome stranger--a stranger whose intelligent windscreens, sleek fuselages, and powerful engines make Linda feel a way that no human ever could. . . .

Linda knows that she can't tell anyone she's sexually obsessed with planes. Nor can she reveal her belief that it's her destiny to "marry" one of her suitors, uniting with her soulmate plane for eternity. But when an opportunity arises to hasten her dream of eternal partnership, and the carefully balanced elements of her life begin to spin out of control, she must choose between maintaining the trappings of normalcy and launching herself headlong toward the love she's always dreamed of.

Both subversive and unexpectedly heartwarming, Sky Daddy hijacks the classic love story, exploring desire, fate, and the longing to be accepted for who we truly are.

Review Quotes

"Very strange and very funny."--The Guardian

"We have an early contender for book jacket blurb of the year: Linda, mild-mannered star of Folk's debut novel, is constantly at the airport because she wants to know airplanes--in the biblical sense . . . There's plenty more to be said about this oddball, surprisingly earnest novel but, frankly, if that synopsis alone is not enough to pique your interest or scare you off, I don't think there's anything else I can say that will."--NPR

"A zany, charming, and unexpectedly poignant portrait of a woman who feels herself to be unassimilable to the world of normal people."--Electric Literature

"This is the craziest, funniest book I've read in a while. And I read a lot of crazy, funny books. Get your boarding pass out and get ready for some turbulence. Sky Daddy is insane."--Gary Shteyngart

"Breathtakingly audacious, Sky Daddy lifts off and swiftly accelerates, breaking the barrier of your preconceptions and disbelief, taking you to utterly new places and insights."--Ling Ma

"Folk has written something truly original here: the kind of novel that startles you into remembering fiction's potential to be simultaneously deeply weird, deeply funny and deeply felt."--The Telegraph

"Utterly delightful and even profound."--Vanity Fair

"Anything can be 'daddy, ' even planes, as Kate Folk proves in her debut novel. . . . If you can't get enough of shows like My Strange Addiction or Objective Love, this one is for you."--Bustle

"Truly odd [and] inexplicably poignant . . . Buckle up, it's one hell of a ride."--Literary Hub

"Sky Daddy is a voyeuristic masterpiece--you'll never look at a contrail (or an airplane blanket) the same way again."--Kimberly King Parsons

"This book is a dog whistle for the true freaks--never have I felt so seen! I loved it."--Rita Bullwinkel

"With wit and humor, Kate Folk gives us an unsettling but fascinating look at the complicated ways humans relate to technology."--Weike Wang

"Powerful and wise, Sky Daddy also manages to be the funniest book about sexual obsession that I have ever read."--Colin Winnette

"I found myself breathless, shocked, and wonderstruck. Kate Folk is a singular talent, soaring in a brilliant universe all her own."--Emily Habeck

"Innovative, daring, and (very) fun, Kate Folk's eccentrically smart novel of outward, and inward, love effortlessly blends humor and heart. It's impossible to forget."--Iain Reid

"Get on board already! Sky Daddy is absurd and poignant, hilarious and gruesome, razor-sharp and tenderhearted."--Lily Brooks-Dalton

"Delightfully weird and totally electric."--Gina Chung

"Kate Folk's sharp sentences and sidesplitting characters sparkle with glorious cringe. Do not miss this flight."--Henry Hoke

"With this brilliant deep dive into the irrational abyss of obsession, Kate Folk proves herself to be a truly original new voice in fiction."--Mat Johnson

"Sky Daddy is outrageously funny and smartly unsettling . . . also probably the worst (or . . . best?) book to read on a plane."--Ed Park

"Wry, tender, and sweetly odd . . . It's an unforgettable ode to the pursuit of desire."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An utterly confident and endearing portrait of a woman unlike anyone readers have met before."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About the Author

Kate Folk is the author of the short story collection Out There. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Granta, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, and Zyzzyva. A former Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she's also received support from the Headlands Center for the Arts, MacDowell, and Willapa Bay AiR. She lives in San Francisco.