Vernon Subutex Three: The final book in the rock and roll cult trilogy

Description

"A literary phenomenon" The Times "Despentes' writing is intelligent, outspoken, witty, shocking, propulsive and streetwise" Times Literary Supplement THE FINAL VOLUME IN THE EPIC ROCK AND ROLL TRILOGY BY CULT AUTHOR VIRGINIE DESPENTES Although it means leaving behind the community of disciples who have followed him on his travels and assembled at his raves and gatherings, Vernon Subutex is compelled to return to Paris to visit the dentist. Once back in the city, he learns that Charles, his old friend from his days on the Paris streets, has died and left him half of a lottery win. But when Vernon returns to his disciples with news of this windfall, it does not take long before his followers start to turn on each other, and his good fortune provokes ruptures in his once harmonious community. Meanwhile, storm clouds are gathering for Aicha and Celeste: Laurent Dopalet is determined to make them pay for their attack on him, whatever it takes and whoever gets hurt. And before long, the whole of Paris will be reeling in the wake of the terrorist atrocities of 2015 and 2016, and all the characters in this kaleidoscopic portrait of a city will be forced to a reckoning with each other. Translated from the French by Frank Wynne

VIRGINIE DESPENTES is a writer and filmmaker. Her first novel, Baise-Moi was published in 1992 and adapted for film in 2000. She is the author of over fifteen further novels, including Apocalypse Baby (2010) and Bye Bye Blondie (2004), and the autobiographical work, King Kong Theory (2006). She won the Prix de Flore in 1998 forLes Jolies Choses, the 2010 Prix Renaudot for Apocalypse Baby and Vernon Subutex One won the Prix Anais Nin in 2015, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International in 2018.

Invigorating ... there isn't really anything else like it right now * Observer * A literary phenomenon . . . [an] outrageous, often funny and frequently foul-mouthed trilogy * The Times * Brings the story of Vernon to a sometimes bleak, often very funny and possibly optimistic conclusion * The i * Despentes' writing is intelligent, outspoken, witty, shocking, propulsive and streetwise * Times Literary Supplement * Raw and rewarding * New European * Oddly magnificent * The Sunday Times * Despentes' achievement is French realism rebooted: a modern-day Comedie humaine stacked with profanity and fury * The Times * Either you're already onboard with this series and need no convincing, or you've somehow missed the fact that a cool French writer has been pumping out hilarious and corrosive novels about contemporary urban life at the center and fringes of Paris. Despentes writes like Armistead Maupin, but about aging Gen-Xers instead of hippies and New Agers. -- Molly Young * Vulture * Three addictive, intelligent volumes. Comedy, a way with words, and the collision of registers of language combine to make Vernon irresistible -- RAPHAELLE LEYRIS * Le Monde * Reflecting our chaotic times, Vernon Subutex 3 is a powerful, shocking, captivating work. Despentes completes her epic with a rare mastery. Where will she take us next? -- BRUNO CORTY * Figaro * A zigzagging novel that likes to let the intrigue wander, all the better to tug it back by the hair a few portraits later -- CLAIRE DEVARRIEUX * Liberation * A final volume even more explosive than the previous ones -- NELLY KAPRIELIAN * Les Inrockuptibles * An analysis of a startling harshness, which does not lessen the relentless, furious humanity pulsing through every page, every sentence -- NATHALIE CROM * Telerama * One of the most striking literary epics of the early 21st century -- MARIANNE PAYOT * L'Express *