Staff Pick
Baise Moi (or Rape Me) is the brutal revenge story of two women who, through cosmic happenstance, team up to unleash the violence that has been done to them and others onto the world at large. This is not an easy read and the peerless Virginie Despentes does not aim for likable protagonists, but with her in the driver's seat you will begin to feel that their actions are more reasonable than at first glance, and, like when faced with a natural disaster, the bloodshed they leave behind should have been expected. Recommended By Cosima C., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Baise-Moi is one of the most controversial French novels of recent years, a punk fantasy that takes female rage to its outer limits. Now the basis for a hit underground film which was banned in France, Baise-Moi is a searing story of two women on a rampage that is part Thelma and Louise, part Viking conquest.
Manu and Nadine have had all they can take. Manu has been brutally raped, and determines it's not worth leaving anything precious lying vulnerable — including her very self. She teams up with Nadine, a nihilist who watches pornography incessantly, and they enact their own version of les vols et les viols (rape and pillage) — they lure men sexually, use them up, then rob and kill them. Drawing from the spiky cadences of the Sex Pistols and the murderous eroticism of Georges Bataille or Dennis Cooper, Baise-Moi is a shocking, accomplished, and truly unforgettable novel.
Review
"A small revolution." L.A. Weekly
Review
"An underground favorite that will be talked about for years." Female FYI
Review
"Fuses triple-X porno, New Wave abandon, and feminist revenge fantasy. . . Risky and different." The Mercury News
Review
"Pure payback . . . subversive and exhilarating." Elle
About the Author
Virginie Despentes was born in 1969. She is the author of three novels, and she wrote and codirected the film version of Baise-Moi.