Vernon Subutex 1
A Novel
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the provocative writer and filmmaker Virginie Despentes comes Vernon Subutex 1, the first novel in her acclaimed trilogy—a gritty, satirical tale of a former record shop owner's descent into the underbelly of Parisian society.
Vernon Subutex was once the legendary proprietor of Revolver, a famed music shop in Paris. But by the 2000s, with the rise of the internet and decline in physical media sales, his shop is struggling. When it finally closes, Subutex finds himself adrift, his savings gone. The death of a rock star who had been covering his rent leaves him homeless, launching him on an epic saga of couch-surfing, substance abuse, and destitution. Just as he resigns himself to life as a panhandler, a forgotten comment he made on Facebook goes viral.
Word spreads that Subutex possesses the last recordings of the deceased musician on a collection of VHS tapes. Soon a motley crew of characters, from screen writers to social media groupies, porn stars to failed musicians, are hot on Vernon's trail, unbeknownst to him.
"Virginie Despentes's Vernon Subutex trilogy is the zeitgeistiest thing I ever read. Everything about it is contemporary, right down to the fearless woman author who doesn't think of herself as a feminist and gives an impression at least in interviews of habitually killing rapists." —Nell Zink, Bustle, "The Best Books Of The 2010s"
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The first book of a trilogy, Despentes's Man Booker shortlisted novel about a former record shop owner is a searing social satire and biting portrait of contemporary France. The titular Vernon Subutex was the owner of a record shop called Revolver in the 1980s, when he became an indelible part of the burgeoning music scene of the times, befriending rock stars, groupies, and fanatics. Now in his 40s, unemployed and broke, Vernon is left reeling after "the chain of catastrophes," a series of deaths of his friends from the scene. Most notable is that of Alexandre Beach, a mega-famous pop singer who, despite his stratospheric fame, never left his old friends behind. And unbeknownst to him, Vernon, who owns the last recordings of Alexandre Beach, has become a target of all kinds of attention: from Alex's exes, from a fan-slash-writer working on a definitive biography, and from a film financier with a personal vendetta. Vernon couch hops from one unstable living situation to the next, unaware of the forces after him, and in the process readers are introduced to a cast of tangential members of Vernon's social group and generation at large. Despentes's timely novel is both arch and political without being too obvious that it's either. This is a rollicking, brilliant send-up of masculinity, politics, and rock 'n' roll.
