Virginie Despentes is a French author whose work often delves into the darker aspects of society, exploring themes of female sexuality, violence, and social marginalization. Her writing is characterized by its raw honesty and provocative style, challenging conventional narratives and exposing the complexities of human experience. Through her novels and films, Despentes offers an unflinching look at the world, compelling readers to confront uncomfortable truths and re-examine their own preconceptions. Her work stands as a bold voice in contemporary literature, unafraid to tackle taboo subjects and question patriarchal structures.
Drawing from personal experience, Despentes shatters received ideas about rape and prostitution, and explodes common attitudes about sex and gender. King Kong Theory is a manifesto for a new punk feminism, reissued here in a brilliant new translation by Frank Wynne.
The final volume of Virginie Despentes' searing trilogy of urban life in a time of turmoil and uncertainty.
"Vernon Subutex is still on the streets. Hanging around with alcohol-soaked Charles in the Parc de Buttes Chaumont, feverish and hallucinating, he is completely cut off from the wider world and unaware that he is the subject of a frantic search by a crowd of hunters hot on the trail of the last recordings of the famous dead musician, Alex Bleach. But just imagine that one of these hunters finally gets hold of the precious tapes. What might they contain? The answer could have shocking - almost apocalyptic - consequences."--Publisher's description
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL 2018** WHO IS VERNON SUBUTEX? An urban legend. A fall from grace. The mirror who reflects us all. Vernon Subutex was once the proprietor of Revolver, an infamous music shop in Bastille. His legend spread throughout Paris. But by the 2000s his shop is struggling. With his savings gone, his unemployment benefit cut, and the friend who had been covering his rent suddenly dead, Vernon Subutex finds himself down and out on the Paris streets. He has one final card up his sleeve. Even as he holds out his hand to beg for the first time, a throwaway comment he once made on Facebook is taking the internet by storm. Vernon does not realise this, but the word is out: Vernon Subutex has in his possession the last filmed recordings of Alex Bleach, the famous musician and Vernon's benefactor, who has only just died of a drug overdose. A crowd of people from record producers to online trolls and porn stars are now on Vernon's trail. Translated from the French by Frank Wynne "Thrilling, magnificently audacious" Irish Times "Brimming with sex, violence and deviant behaviour" Sunday Times "Virginie Despentes's Vernon Subutex trilogy is the zeitgeistiest thing I ever read" NELL ZINK
Set against the backdrop of fading fame, the story explores the lives of Rebecca, a once-celebrated actress, and Oscar, a struggling author. Both characters grapple with their pasts, shaped by their experiences with addiction and the myth of the tortured artist. As they confront their personal demons, they contemplate the need for change in their lives, highlighting themes of reinvention and the pursuit of authenticity amidst the pressures of their respective careers.
Baise-Moi is one of the most controversial French novels of recent years, a punk fantasy that takes female rage to its outer limits. Now the basis for a hit underground film which was banned in France, Baise-Moi is a searing story of two women on a rampage that is part Thelma and Louise, part Viking conquest. Manu and Nadine have had all they can take. Manu has been brutally raped, and determines it's not worth leaving anything precious lying vulnerable -- including her very self. She teams up with Nadine, a nihilist who watches pornography incessantly, and they enact their own version of les vols et les viols (rape and pillage) -- they lure men sexually, use them up, then rob and kill them. Drawing from the spiky cadences of the Sex Pistols and the murderous eroticism of Georges Bataille or Dennis Cooper, Baise-Moi is a shocking, accomplished, and truly unforgettable novel.
Chi è Vernon Subutex? Una leggenda metropolitana. Un morto che non smette di risorgere. L’ultimo testimone di un mondo scomparso. L’uomo che conosce un segreto. Lo specchio di ciascuno di noi.Tutto ha inizio quando il famosissimo Alex Bleach, cantante dalla vita sregolata, muore per overdose nella sua vasca da bagno. Un lutto enorme per i fan, ma soprattutto per Vernon Subutex, che negli anni ottanta è stato il proprietario del più celebre negozio di dischi di Parigi e, travolto dalla crisi, viveva mantenuto dall’amico popstar. Non potendo più pagare l’affitto, Vernon, “l'uomo con quel nome che ricorda un materasso”, si trova in mezzo alla strada, senza nulla se non alcuni video privatissimi di Alex Bleach che ora tutti desiderano. Intorno a lui si dispiega un caleidoscopio di personaggi: gente del popolo e borghesi, intellettuali e delinquenti, transessuali e donne velate, tutti destinati a trovarsi a un certo punto soli e disorientati in questo nuovo secolo che cambia i confini del mondo. Ma soprattutto, insieme a Vernon – lucido, rassegnato e al tempo stesso ribelle – il vero personaggio del romanzo è Parigi: elegantissima ed effervescente come la scrittura di Virginie Despentes.
Nadine hat einen Mord begangen. Manu auch. Beide eher zufällig. Ihre gemeinsame Flucht führt sie quer durch die französische Provinz: die hyperaktive Manu, die beim kleinsten Anlass die Pistole zückt, und die stets gelassene Nadine, die nichts schrecken kann. Was als Abenteuer beginnt, als Spiel mit Sex und Drogen, eskaliert nach dem Überfall auf einen Waffenladen in Strömen von Blut.
Bruno, ein ehemaliger Punk und gescheiterter Schriftsteller, hat sich vor der Welt zurückgezogen. Als Alice, eine alte Affäre, ihm offenbart, dass er eine Tochter hat, wird sein Leben auf den Kopf gestellt. Trotz anfänglicher Schockstarre spürt er Verantwortung, muss jedoch feststellen, dass der Weg zum Vatersein herausfordernd ist.
- Une fille qu on rencontre en HP n est pas une fille qui rend heureux. Il voulait jouer contre le reste du monde, avoir raison contre toutes les evidences, il pensait que c etait ca l amour. Il voulait prendre ce risque, avec elle, et qu ils arrivent sur l autre rive, sains et saufs. Mais ils reussissent juste a s entrainer au fond. Il est temps de renoncer -Gloria a ete internee en hopital psychiatrique. Contre toute attente, la punkette - prolo - y a rencontre Eric, un fils de bourgeois aussi infrequentable qu elle; ils se sont aimes comme on s aime a seize ans. Puis la vie, autant que les contraintes sociales, les a separes. Vingt ans apres, a nouveau, leurs chemins se croisent.Portrait d une femme blessee aux prises avec ses demons, traversee des annees punk, chronique d un amour naufrage, "Bye Bye Blondie" est sans doute le livre le plus emouvant de Virginie Despentes."
