Apocalypse Baby - by Virginie Despentes (Paperback)

About the Book

This on-the-road mystery follows the search for a missing girl, providing a scathing commentary on contemporary life.

Book Synopsis

"Apocalypse Baby is more than a compelling punk, queerish spin on the noir genre. It is a choral performance that tumbles its readers into the heart of violent spectacle, with all its attendant grief, unease, and unclarity." --Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts

Valentine is a wayward teenage girl on the run through Paris and Barcelona. She is tailed by two mismatched private investigators: the Hyena--part ruthless interrogator, part oversexed rock star--and Lucie, her plain and passive--almost to the point of invisible--sidekick. As their desperate search unfolds, they interrogate a suspicious cast of characters, exposing the dark heart of contemporary youth culture. In this fast-paced feminist thriller, Virginie Despentes presents a scathing social criticism with flawed, fascinating characters and spellbinding prose.

Virginie Despentes is a writer, filmmaker, and noted French feminist critic. She is the author of many award-winning books, including King Kong Theory, Apocalypse Baby (winner of the 2010 Prix Renaudot), and the Vernon Subutex trilogy (shortlisted for the 2018 International Booker Prize). She co-directed the screen adaptations of her controversial novels Baise-Moi and Bye Bye Blondie, and served as screenwriter for the adaptation of her novel Pretty Things.

Review Quotes

Praise for Apocalypse Baby

"Despentes explores deeply flawed but interesting characters; the limits of traditional female roles; the ravages of the European class system; the challenge of Internet control; and the destructive self-indulgence of a youth culture that lacks its own deeply held beliefs and is, as such, easily manipulated by the darkest authority." --Kirkus

"Rich in detail, emotionally precise, and caustically funny." --Bookforum

"Apocalypse Baby kept me up several nights in a row--in part because it's a terrific page-turner, and in part because I was anxious to see how Despentes would sustain her narrative ride, which is replete with wily shifts in point of view, swift and trenchant characterizations, and a buoyant, even comedic energy laced with mordant cultural and psychological insights throughout. In the end, Apocalypse Baby is more than a compelling punk, queerish spin on the noir genre. It is a choral performance that tumbles its readers into the heart of violent spectacle, with all its attendant griefs, unease, and unclarity." --Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts

"It has everything: the nervous, ironic, vivid style of Baise-Moi... her sharp gaze on society and its divisions, her empathy for the poor wretches who compose it . . . an indefinable thriller, combing pulp and social chronicle." --L'Express

"Virginie Despentes's social criticism is blistering, but her prose is laid-back. Apocalypse Baby is an addictive feminist thriller that reads like shameless gossip from your smartest friend." --Johanna Fateman, writer and musician

"A model for the revolutionary figure . . . Grander than life." --Music & Literature

"Apocalypse Baby does not drift. It propels forward, hardly taking a breath." --Three Percent blog

"This is a book written to make the reader think, to challenge assumptions and provide no easy answer or understanding." --Lambda Literary Review

"Despentes explores deeply flawed but interesting characters; the limits of traditional female roles; the ravages of the European class system; the challenge of Internet control; and the destructive self-indulgence of a youth culture that lacks its own deeply held beliefs and is, as such, easily manipulated by the darkest authority." --Kirkus

"Apocalypse Baby kept me up several nights in a row--in part because it's a terrific page-turner, and in part because I was anxious to see how Despentes would sustain her narrative ride, which is replete with wily shifts in point of view, swift and trenchant characterizations, and a buoyant, even comedic energy laced with mordant cultural and psychological insights throughout. In the end, Apocalypse Baby is more than a compelling punk, queerish spin on the noir genre. It is a choral performance that tumbles its readers into the heart of violent spectacle, with all its attendant griefs, unease, and unclarity."--Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts

"It has everything: the nervous, ironic, vivid style of Baise-Moi... her sharp gaze on society and its divisions, her empathy for the poor wretches who compose it... an indefinable thriller, combing pulp and social chronicle." --L'Express

"Virginie Despentes's social criticism is blistering, but her prose is laid-back. Apocalypse Baby is an addictive feminist thriller that reads like shameless gossip from your smartest friend." --Johanna Fateman, writer and musician

"A model for the revolutionary figure... Grander than life." --Music & Literature

"Apocalypse Baby does not drift. It propels forward, hardly taking a breath." --Three Percent blog

"This is a book written to make the reader think, to challenge assumptions and provide no easy answer or understanding." --Lambda Literary Review

About the Author

Virginie Despentes is a writer, filmmaker, and noted French feminist critic. She is the author of many award-winning books, including King Kong Theory, Apocalypse Baby (winner of the 2010 Prix Renaudot), and the Vernon Subutex trilogy (shortlisted for the 2018 International Booker Prize). She co-directed the screen adaptations of her controversial novels Baise-Moi and Bye Bye Blondie, and served as screenwriter for the adaptation of her novel Pretty Things.

Sian Reynolds has translated many books on French history, including most of the works of Fernand Braudel. Recent translations include fiction by Virginie Despentes, Antonin Varenne and French crime novelist, Fred Vargas. Four Vargas translations have been awarded the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013). She is professor emerita of French at the University of Stirling, Scotland.