The Savage Girl (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Savage Girl is the first novel by American novelist Alex Shakar
, released in 2001
.
meltdown. Ursula soon begins working for Ivy’s former boyfriend, Chas Lacouture, owner of the trendspotting firm Tomorrow, Ltd. She is trained as a trendspotter by both Chas and her coworker, Javier Delreal.
A manic optimist
, Javier takes her on rollerblading and party-crashing expeditions, predicting a new megatrend he calls the "Light Age," a "renaissance of self-creation," which he believes will coincide with the defeat of irony. By contrast, Chas, a cynical ex-philosophy professor, takes her to skulk in supermarkets and spy on customers, and introduces her to the concept of "paradessence," (Shakar’s invention), the "broken soul" at the center of every product, consisting of two opposing desires that it will promise to satisfy simultaneously: "‘The paradessence of coffee is stimulation and relaxation. Every successful ad campaign for coffee will promise both of those mutually exclusive states."
As Ivy, still arguably insane, resumes her modeling activities, Ursula’s own trendspotting work comes to focus on a homeless girl who lives in a city park, makes her own clothing, and hunts pigeons for food. This eponymous “savage girl” forms the basis of a marketing campaign for a new product, "Diet Water," and serves as a harbinger, for Chas and Javier alike, of the new age to come. This age, of "postirony" (another of Shakar’s terms) is not so much unironic as darkly schizophrenic. The story builds to revelations both comic and tragic.
Alex Shakar
Alex Shakar is an American novelist and short story author. His novel The Savage Girl was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book., was a Book Sense 76 Pick, and has been translated into six foreign languages.-Biography:...
, released in 2001
2001 in literature
The year 2001 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is released to movie theaters...
.
Plot summary
To Middle City, a fictional American metropolis built around a volcano, burnt-out art student Ursula Van Urden arrives to care for her younger sister Ivy, a fashion model who has recently suffered a much-publicized schizophrenicSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
meltdown. Ursula soon begins working for Ivy’s former boyfriend, Chas Lacouture, owner of the trendspotting firm Tomorrow, Ltd. She is trained as a trendspotter by both Chas and her coworker, Javier Delreal.
A manic optimist
Optimist
An optimist is a person with a positive outlook on life.Optimist may also refer to:* A member of Optimist International* The Optimist, a small sailing dinghy sailed by children...
, Javier takes her on rollerblading and party-crashing expeditions, predicting a new megatrend he calls the "Light Age," a "renaissance of self-creation," which he believes will coincide with the defeat of irony. By contrast, Chas, a cynical ex-philosophy professor, takes her to skulk in supermarkets and spy on customers, and introduces her to the concept of "paradessence," (Shakar’s invention), the "broken soul" at the center of every product, consisting of two opposing desires that it will promise to satisfy simultaneously: "‘The paradessence of coffee is stimulation and relaxation. Every successful ad campaign for coffee will promise both of those mutually exclusive states."
As Ivy, still arguably insane, resumes her modeling activities, Ursula’s own trendspotting work comes to focus on a homeless girl who lives in a city park, makes her own clothing, and hunts pigeons for food. This eponymous “savage girl” forms the basis of a marketing campaign for a new product, "Diet Water," and serves as a harbinger, for Chas and Javier alike, of the new age to come. This age, of "postirony" (another of Shakar’s terms) is not so much unironic as darkly schizophrenic. The story builds to revelations both comic and tragic.
Characters
- Ursula Van Urden – Protagonist
- Ivy Van Urden – Ursula’s younger sister, a schizophrenic fashion model
- Chas Lacouture – Ursula’s boss, a trendspotter
- Javier Delreal – Ursula’s coworker, a trendspotter
- The Savage Girl – a homeless girl, the basis for Ursula’s marketing campaign
- Gwennan – Ursula’s and Ivy’s mother, a retired plastic surgeon
- James T. Couch – Ursula’s coworker, über-ironist and trendspotter
- Ed Cabaj – head of marketing for General Foods’ New Beverage division
- Camille Stypnick – art director for the ad agency Mitchell and Chennault
- Eeven – an inner-city boy for whom Javier becomes a Big Brother
Release details
- 2001, USA, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-620987-0, hardcover
- 2001, UK, Scribner, ISBN 0-7432-0724-6
- 2002, USA, HarperPerennial, ISBN 0-06-093523-5, paperback
- 2002, France (“Look Sauvage,” trans. Daniel Lemoine), Au Diable Vauvert, ISBN 2-84626-047-8
- 2002, Germany (“Der Letzte Schrei,” trans. Johannes Sabinski), Rowohlt, ISBN 3-499-23175-1
- 2003, Japan (trans. Masako Sasada), Artist House Publishers, ISBN 4-04-898129-3
- 2003, Poland (“Dzikuska,” trans. Dorota Stadnik), MUZA SA, ISBN 83-7319-339-1
- 2005, Italy (“La Selvaggia,” trans. Elisa Villa), Fanucci Editore, ISBN 9788834709658
- Thailand, Siam Inter Books, ISBN 974-9950-70-4
External links
- The Savage Girl page on author website
- Janet Maslin, “A City’s Pledge of Allegiance: Shop Till You Drop,” The New York Times, Sep. 20, 2001, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5DC133BF933A1575AC0A9679C8B63&scp=1&sq=alex%20shakar&st=cse (review)
- Kirkus Reviews, Oct. 1, 2001, http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/fiction/alex-shakar/the-savage-girl/ (review)
- Irene Lascher, “‘Savage’ Satire Blurs Lines of Popular Culture,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 14, 2001, http://articles.latimes.com/2001/dec/14/news/lv-shakar14, (feature)
- Martha Bayne, “Irony in the Crosshairs,” Chicago Reader, Oct. 4, 2001, http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/irony-in-the-crosshairs/Content?oid=906629 (feature)