<i>”#wherethehellissubutex”</i>

Vernon, Vernon, where are you? Is it true that you’re living rough and that you’ve worn out your welcome couch surfing in the homes of your many friends, some now former friends? Is it true that you smell and that you desperately need a shower, and that you’re wearing hand-me-down, too large boots? That you do occasional sets at Rosa Bonheur, and that you’ve rediscovered your dj magic? And that you’ve camping out, to put it charitably, in the Butte Bergeyre, one of the toniest and most atmospheric Paris neighborhoods?

Virginie Despentes keeps you guessing a bit in <i>Vernon Subutex, 2</i>. In fact, Vernon himself sometimes recedes into the shrubbery of the Butte Bergeyre. <i>Vernon Subutex, 2</i>, to this reader, reads mostly like a pastiche of portraits of Vernon’s mob, and their friends and associates. If you’ve read Vernon 1 — and it’s hard for me to imagine understanding Vernon 2 without having already read Vernon 1 — you know that Vernon’s circle contains multitudes. But in Vernon 1 these multitudes feel more closely tied to Vernon himself. In Vernon 2 I sometimes asked, “What’s the connection to Vernon with this one?” Some portraits in the pastiche are affecting and convincing, as with Vodka Satana (AKA Faïza), her husband Sélim, and their daughter Aïcha. Others don’t hit the mark nearly as well.

Despentes’ tour of Paris is an especially interesting aspect of Vernon 2, perhaps as evocative as Patrick Modiano’s tours but lacking Modiano’s nostalgia. Although Vernon lands on the streets, he’s miraculously reborn as a sex god, spinning behind the decks at Rosa Bonheur, and a smelly guru. Vernon 2 concludes with what to me feels like an off-putting disconnect. Despite Vernon’s odd rejuvenation at the end of Vernon 2, I fear that he’s worn out his welcome with me as well as some of his friends. I still look forward to Vernon 3: Vernon Subutex is a unique trilogy and I hope that Vernon 3 regains the oomph, inherent excitement, and drama of Vernon 1.

3.5 stars

I would like to thank NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an ecopy ARC in exchange for this review