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Alex Shakar

Savage Girl, The Paperback – September 17, 2002

by Alex Shakar (Author)

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What is the next trend -- the next "killer app"? This question is very much on the mind of Ursula Van Urden, a burned-out art student who, after her supermodel sister Ivy's widely publicized suicide attempt, has found work as a trendspotter for Tomorrow, Ltd., in the volcano-shadowed metropolis of Middle City. Armed with only a sketch pad and a mandate to "find the future," Ursula discovers a homeless girl who hunts her own food and lives on the street. This "savage girl" becomes Ursula's first trend and the basis for an advertising scheme that goes madly, disastrously awry.

An exceptionally written novel that puts an obsession with pop culture under the microscope, The Savage Girl is a book that cannot be ignored, and Alex Shakar is a writer brimming with talent.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper Perennial
Publication date

September 17, 2002
Dimensions

5.31 x 0.72 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0060935235
ISBN-13

978-0060935238
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David Lodge
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Mohsin Hamid
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alex Shakar is the author of the story collection City in Love, which won the 1996 National Fiction Competition and was published by The Fiction Collective. It was an Independent Presses Editors' "Pick of the Year." Shakar graduated from Yale University in 1990, was a Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in English and Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (September 17, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060935235
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060935238
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.72 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,666,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16,319 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
- #33,392 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #35,547 in Family Life Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
17 ratings

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Alex Shakar

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Alex Shakar's latest novel, Luminarium, won the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction. It was also named an Editor's Choice by The New York Times, a Notable Book by The Washington Post, and a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, The Austin Chronicle, and The Kansas City Star. His first novel, The Savage Girl, was named a New York Times Notable Book and 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.

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5 star		49%
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3 star		15%
2 star		7%
1 star		15%

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Marketing irony.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 26, 2011

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This look at a fictional society in a fictional city is filled with unlikable characters doing unlikable things to take advantage of the unlikable lifestyle of the fictional world created by Shakar.

That being said, I kept turning the pages because of the draw of his created world that I wanted to believe would have no draw. I so wanted the light but dark (dark in light?) ways of the Middle City to explode rather than take control. I also wanted the characters to explode (figuratively, of course) rather than become the norm in this world of the not-so-distant past that could have been/could still be the future.

It may be only the result of chance that Shakar's world isn't the present. As we wander through his Consumerville, we can shake our collective heads and keep reading quickly so we don't ask ourselves about our own lives. It's easier to be critical of a created world that is a ramped up version of the overmarketing of everything.

Written in 2001, this is slightly dated. My memory isn't good enough to compare the details of his world with the one a decade ago. However, the "feel" of things is kind of spooky. Enough of this cautionary story is still applicable to today to make this a worthwhile take to read.

I am looking forward to reading his 2011 book "Luminarium".

Luminarium

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A brilliant writer in search of a good story.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 19, 2013

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I'll be honest. I could not make it through Luminarium. Though the writing was good I got through half the book and the plot had advanced about an inch.

I was much more happy with The Savage Girl. The writing is very good, but the story tends to fall apart as it progresses. I hope his next book he an get a proper editor and put together a more cohesive story.

One person found this helpful

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Reader K

Imagined reality

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

I read Savage Girl, Shakar's first novel, after reading his second, Luminarium. It was a pleasure to discover that his writing style was just as witty and artful. The setting of the Savage Girl is young, its characters are fashion forward; its navigation through society's contradictions are wise. Shakar takes us to an imaginary world that is deeply resonant of our own.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 21, 2012

Verified Purchase

I could not write a book myself and I don't want to insult the author. I finished it because I had already put 2 books aside and I thought I might be getting too delicate. But I found none of this interesting. Everyone whines. I was hoping they would all just die off when the volcano exploded. Neither happened.

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A. Fineman

Like a cultural artifact of the end of the last century

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 15, 2011

I just read this book, because I learned about it in this essay by the author, Alex Shakar, about his brief rise to fame in 2001, just before the release of "The Savage Girl":

[...]

In the essay, Shakar talks about how he was becoming a minor celebrity in the literary world, only for his novel to be released the same week as Sept. 11. Since the novel is about consumerism, irony, cultural tourism, and a lot of somewhat "negative" and "anti-business" ideas that were floating around in the 1990s, it wasn't super popular in the days following Sept. 11. I recommend reading Shakar's essay linked to above, and this book as well, if you're interested in Gen X culture, the 1990s in America, advertising, stealth marketing, trendspotting, etc.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 16, 2001

Verified Purchase

Read this book! You won't be sorry!

One person found this helpful

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Teri Owen

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2017

A great read

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Louis Tuck

Shakar is funny and observant, much like his characters

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 28, 2002

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!

9 people found this helpful

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