A hilarious, genre-blending speculative novel about rappers and dogs, love and marriage, private detectives, conspiracy theories, nostalgia, and embracing your true self, in a world where the past is different than what you remember.

Budding musician Fatty Bratty wakes up in his terrible apartment to a random dog. A dog that acts like he belongs there. Except Bratty doesnt own a dog. He always wanted to but never did. So maybe this random dog is a sign: screw his parents expectations. Forget business school. Instead, over a manic week, he and his best friend write and record their first rap album. They call themselves Mr. Yay.

Brattys therapist, Miriam, remembers a different Mr. Yay, the one from the old childrens TV show, the washed-up actor turned first mate who sailed a boat captained by a dog and taught people to be themselves. To justbe. But strangely, her husband, Jack, has no memory of the old show at all.

As Mr. Yay climbs the charts with his rap songs, Miriam watches her life unravel. Jack is increasingly absent, more secretive, recklesshe hardly resembles the man she married. Their friends start acting weird, too: drinking excessively, splurging on motorcycles, quitting their jobs, not washing their hair, harboring raccoons. Jack also doesnt remember things he should about his relationship with Miriam. But he suspects his memory hole is more than it seems. Its not just that hes forgotten the Mr. Yay showits that, on the internet, and according to the studio and half the population, there is no Mr. Yay. There never was.

Witty, heartfelt, deeply weird, and utterly original,Mr. Yayexplores how we grapple with inexplicable sudden shifts in the world around us, and the conspiracy theories and identity crises they birth. If the past we remember has changed, are we who we think we are? Is anyone?

Story Locale:Cincinnatti, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, all over America