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"