Comic, tragic, erotic, whimsical, and profound, I Wish, Therefore I Am is a tonic for these times.

“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.