The Savage Girl [Hardcover]

Alex Shakar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2001

In the wake of her sister Ivy's widely publicized suicide attempt, Ursula Van Urden arrives in the metropolis of Middle City with hopes of starting her own life anew. In an attempt to understand the events leading up to her sister's breakdown, Ursula meets Ivy's mysterious boyfriend, Chas Lacouture, and joins his trendspotting firm, Tomorrow, Ltd. Armed with only a sketch pad and the mandate to "find the future," she begins an odyssey into the strangely intoxicating world of trendspotting where one lesson prevails: At the heart of every product lies a paradox, and when cultivated successfully, it yields untold riches. As Ivy's delusions grow stronger and more apocalyptic, Ursula's observations of a filthy, rodent-eating homeless girl -- an urban savage -- lead to an elaborate advertising scheme gone awry that has unexpected consequences.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shakar's clever and provocative debut novel (following his short story collection, City in Love) is something of a genre-bender. Like certain SF tales, the story takes place in a futuristic present imperfect, where recognizable trends Internet voyeurism and ecotourism, for instance have morphed into their logical (or illogical) extremes, and even the setting, Middle City, is both familiar and fantastic. It's built on the slopes of a volcano, the most prestigious buildings situated on the volcano's rim; it even has a statue of God as well as of Manuel Noriega. Into this comic-book setting, full of vividly drawn, outsized characters, Shakar drops a perfectly normal heroine, Ursula Van Urden. Ursula, a would-be artist in her late 20s, has come to the city to look after her sister, Ivy, a model who very publicly tried to kill herself and has since been committed. She persuades Ivy's former boyfriend, Chas Lacouture, president and founder of Tomorrow Ltd., to hire her as a trend spotter, predicting fads so that savvy companies and advertising firms can exploit them. A homeless girl who hunts her own food and lives on the streets the savage girl becomes Ursula's first trend and the basis for a diet water (yes, diet water) marketing campaign. And Chas ensures that Ursula's schizophrenic sister becomes the product's spokesmodel. The plot then surges wildly ahead as deluded Ivy seeks boundless fame, Ursula seeks a decent life and Chas seeks his next fortune. What's best about this entertaining novel is the feast of ideas. Has too much irony been emitted into the earth's atmosphere? Is glamour a zero-sum game? Is there a paradoxical essence at the heart of every product? Who knows? But Shakar makes it fun to contemplate. National print and radio advertising; 6-city author tour. (Oct. 25)Forecast: The ultra-gloss anxieties of young urbanites are on fetching display in this clever debut, and city sales boosted by a six-city author tour and national print and radio advertising should be brisk.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A dark novel of ideas that might be called "wickedly funny" if it didn't contain quite so much truth. The Savage Girl predicts a frighteningly empty future on the rise-one that is, literally, tomorrow, and is not unlike today. Ruled by advertising and in the hands of professional trend-spotters like protagonist Ursula, it is "The Dark Age: Lite," in which people flock to buy diet water and wear leather made to look like vinyl "fake leather." Ursula comes to MidCity to visit her recently institutionalized sister Ivy, a 21-year-old schizophrenic model who attempted suicide in public. She gets a job under Ivy's much-older boyfriend, Chas Lacouture, the head of a powerful trend-spotting firm, and spends her days in-line skating around town, taking notes on street fashion, and trying to "see the future." Transfixed by a homeless "savage girl" she spots wearing skins and hunting her own food, idealist Ursula envisions this look sparking a return to nature and purity and shows her sketches to Chas-only to watch him haul Ivy out of the hospital to become the spokesmodel for the savage look. Never mind that she speaks paranoid gibberish: "Schizophrenia is the Future!" Soon enough, to Ursula's horror, his prediction seems right on the money. So, incidentally, does Shakar's. One emerges from the novel feeling dragged through the murkiest depths of what it means to be human. The author's scalding observations will ring true with teens hip to the often-outrageous ways in which advertising molds us-and will provide the rudest, smartest awakening for those who are not.

Emily Lloyd, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (September 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066209870
• ISBN-13: 978-0066209876
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alex Shakar's latest novel, Luminarium, is forthcoming from Soho Press in August, 2011. His first novel, The Savage Girl, a New York Times Notable Book, has been translated into six foreign languages. His story collection, City In Love, won the FC2 National Fiction Competition. A native of Brooklyn, NY, he now lives in Chicago with his wife, the composer Olivia Block.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shakar is funny and observant, much like his characters, November 27, 2002

By 

Louis Tuck (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Savage Girl (Paperback)

In his first book, The Savage Girl, Alex Shakar tells the tale of four ambitious young adults attempting to conquer commercialism, and then redefine it. The main character Ursula Van Urden, breaks into the fashion industry by becoming a 'trendspotter'. Her first assignment leads her to 'the savage girl', a primitive, disgusting, and seemingly antithetical figure of commercial beauty. Ursula's discovery prompts the marketing campaign for a new product called "diet water," which soon becomes the epitome of commercial absurdity. In a humourous and thought provoking novel, Shakar explores such questions as:

Is advertising the motor behind society?

Has marketing and hype created a world where all our beliefs are based on fallacy?

Is there any real meaning in popular culture today, or is popular culture just a corporate strategm for encouraging people to spend money?

Alex Shakar creates four irresistibly intriguing characters who's attempt to conquer society's fashion engine, leads to some bizarre, yet plausible conclusions about society. The Savage Girl is a delightful and observant rebuttal of everything we think we know about the advertising industry. A ridiculously enticing book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dazzler of A Debut, October 20, 2001

By 

"contactaroston" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Savage Girl (Hardcover)

Trying to create an entire world between the covers is no easy task, but Mr. Shakar has managed it; "Savage Girl" is a fully-realized alternate universe, and perhaps it is a not-so-distant place. This is an earnest and noble "Novel of Ideas," steadily plotted and crisply written. The concepts raised will have you getting the book down from the shelf more than once. Highly recommended for the serious reader seeking something out of the ordinary.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get on board..., September 24, 2001

By 

David Langendoen (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Savage Girl (Hardcover)

Alex Shakar's first novel is an amazing ride. Since it's often easiest to describe something (or someone) new in comparison to existing standards, let's try this: He has the descriptive prowess of a Tom Robbins; the pacing and complexity of Don DeLillo; the magic of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. To be sure, there are a couple of rough edges, but his surreal Middle City and the fabulous characters that live there are not to be missed.