The Savage Girl - Alex Shakar [142]
For Chas, on the other hand, Virtualism has darker implications: according to his formulation, it will lead to what he calls “Radical Individualism,” or “the creation of multiple consumer-identities within a single individual.” While a potential boon for the savvy marketer, the consumer may find in the experience of Virtualism a perpetual lack of wholeness or centeredness, a kind of schizophrenia.
Well, what about schizophrenia, then? Is this an altogether bad thing? While I’m not currently aware of any “pro-schizo” newsgroups out there, who knows, maybe soon there will be. In the novel, Ivy’s schizophrenia gives her power as well as powerlessness, glamour as well as squalor, grandeur as well as persecution. And maybe, in a way, that’s what consumerism gives us all.
– Alex Shakar
August 1, 2001
Acknowledgments
Among his many sources, the author wishes to acknowledge Lynda Edward’s vivid article “I Have Seen the Future and It Is Puce with Aquamarine Accents” (Spy magazine, March 1991); Thomas Frank’s thoughtprovoking book The Conquest of Cool (University of Chicago Press, 1997); and David Langendoen and Spencer Grey for the harrowing concept of trans-temporal marketing; and to thank Dr. Susan Stabinsky for helping him gain access to the lives of victims of schizophrenia. The epigraph on page vii is from Paris Spleen, by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Louise Varèse (New Directions, 1970).
The author also acknowledges the support of the Michener Center for Writers; the Wurlitzer Foundation for the Arts; and the University of Illinois at Chicago; and extends his profound gratitude to the many people who helped make this book what it is, especially Joseph Skibell; Cris Mazza; Gina Frangello; Martin, Diane, Greg, and Mary Shakar; Olivia Block; Bill Clegg; and Robert Jones.
About the Author
Alex Shakar is the author of the story collection City in Love, which won the 1996 FC2 National Fiction Competition and was selected as an Independent Presses Editors’ “Pick of the Year.” A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Shakar was a Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in English and Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Credits
Jacket design by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
THE SAVAGE GIRL. Copyright © 2001 by Alex Shakar. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2001 ISBN: 9780061863462
Print edition first published in 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au