The Savage Girl
AuthorAlex Shakar
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
September 18, 2001
Pages288
ISBN0-06-620987-0

The Savage Girl is the first novel by American author Alex Shakar, released in 2001.

Plot summary

Burnt-out art student Ursula Van Urden arrives in Middle City, a fictional American metropolis built around a volcano, with plans to care for her younger sister, Ivy. A well known fashion model, Ivy had recently suffered a much-publicized schizophrenic meltdown. Having spent some time in Middle City, Ursula soon begins working for Ivy's former boyfriend. Her employer, Chas Lacouture is the owner of the trendspotting firm, Tomorrow, Ltd. She is trained as a trendspotter by both Chas a new coworker, Javier Delreal.

A manic optimist, Javier takes Ursula 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," the "broken soul" at the center of every product, consisting of two opposing desires that it will promise to satisfy simultaneously.

As Ivy resumes her modeling activities, Ursula's trendspotting work focuses 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.

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

References

  1. Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl, p. 24
  2. Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl, p. 60

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 978-88-347-0965-8
  • Thailand, Siam Inter Books, ISBN 974-9950-70-4
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