96 newyork| november11–24, 2019
VernonSubutex 1
BYVIRGINIEDESPENTES
(FICTION,NOVEMBER5)➽^ vernon is a down-
on-his-luck aging Lo-
thariowhohasdiscov-
ered, decadestoo late,
that he should have
married one of the rich
babes he seduced and
discarded when he was
stilldesirable. Whoops!
Heisthetitle charac-
ter of VirginieDespen-
tes’s novel, which sold
hundredsofthousands of copies in France and
wasmadeintoa TVshow and short-listed for
theInternationalMan Booker prizeand has
nowbeentranslatedinto English. Like HBO’s
Succession,thebookre-
volvesaroundanensem-
bleofhorriblepeople:a
sleazebagmovieproduc-
er,a professionaltroll,an
ex-groupie,andseveral
sex-ghouls,including
Vernon.Almost allare
malignantxenophobes,
homophobes,and/ormi-
sogynists.Theyalsodis-
playa specificallyFrench
kindofdorkiness—thesearethekindofpeople
whorefertoLedZeppelinas“LedZep”andare
weirdlyinvestedintheirFacebookprofiles.Some
arerich,andsomearebroke;allarebefuddled
bythedigitaleconomy. Despenteshasbeencom-
paredtovariousrealists(Balzac,Zola),andshe
writeswickedlyaboutpeoplewatchingtheir
privilegeevaporateandreactingwiththefull
range ofhumanugliness,whichisprobablya
metaphorforFrance.What fun!FindMe
BYANDRÉACIMAN
(FICTION,OCTOBER29)➽booksdonotnor-
mallycomewithgifts.
I cancountontwo
handsthenumberof
timesa publisherhas
sentmea bookwith
anythingotherthana
pressrelease,andit’ s
usuallysomethinglike
a cutelittlepenthat
matchesthebook’s cov-
er. Youcanimaginethe
noiseI madewhenI knifedopena brownpackage
containingthesequeltoCallMe byYourName
andfoundthatit camewitha tiny bottleofper-
fumedescribedasthe“olfactory translation”ofquicksandisreal.I knowbecauseI steppedinit.I was
gettingintoa boat tocrossa crocodile-infestedrivermouth
inCentralAmericatwoweeksago,andinsteadofdocking(therewerenodocks),theboatranupagainst thestripofground
whererivermetbeach.Thisstripwasquicksand.I sankintomy
upperkneesandsquawked—notbecauseI wasinperilbutbecause
it is unusualtoconfronta newtextureasanadult.I thoughtI had
alreadyexperiencedallofthetextures!I thought
quicksandexistedonlyinmovies!Buthereit was,
anemulsionofsandandwaterthat lookedsolid
andfeltliquid.I easilyheavedmyselfoutandinto
theboat.It wasthephysicalequivalentofspeaking
a wordoutloudthatI’d onlyreadonpaperand
havingmy pronunciation ted.Quicksand:It is real,andit is
notasexpected.Manyoft okshereoffera faint2-Dreplicaof
theexperience.It is indescribablypeculiar.Happysinking.
WTRN*
sign up
forthe
newsletter
at vulture
.com/books.Brain-electrifyingly good BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS,byNe w Yo rk literary critic M O L LY YO U N G*“What to Read Next”✔ recommended
if you like:
❏ The Deuce
❏ Iggy Pop
❏ A Visit From the
Goon Squad
❏ Martin Amis’s
London Fields
❏ Oversleeping➽
The CULTURE PAGES