The Savage Girl

"A crystalline satire of a preening media elite too exhausted with pillaging the minds of consumers to notice the collapsing world around them" ( Kirkus). What is the next trend—the next "killer app"? This question is very much on the mind of Ursula Van Urden, a burned-out art student who, after her supermodel sister Ivy's widely publicized suicide attempt, has found work as a trendspotter for Tomorrow, Ltd., in the volcano-shadowed metropolis of Middle City. Armed with only a sketch pad and a mandate to "find the future," Ursula discovers a homeless girl who hunts her own food and lives on the street. This "savage girl" becomes Ursula's first trend and the basis for an advertising scheme that goes madly, disastrously awry. An exceptionally written novel that puts an obsession with pop culture under the microscope,  The Savage Girl is a book that cannot be ignored, and Alex Shakar is a writer brimming with talent. Praise for The Savage Girl A New York Times Notable Book "An exceptionally smart and likable first novel that tries valiantly to ransom Beauty from its commercial captors." —Jonathan Franzen "A brutally funny first novel that skewers America's marketing mentality and fractured consciousness." — Time Out (New York) "It's exciting to meet a new novelist who's not afraid of heights." — New York Times Book Review "The most sensitive, observant, and shrewdest of writers are preternaturally attuned to the undercurrents that twist and warp society, and Shakar, a seer with extraordinary literary skills and a piquant sense of humor, will join the ranks of Goerge Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Tom Wolfe." — Chicago Tribune