Vagablonde

by Anna Dorn

Vagablonde is a darkly humorous, rollercoaster ride through the Los Angeles music scene about a woman who wants two things, the first is to live without psychotropic medication, and the second is to experience success as an artist. A cautionary tale about viral fame, Vagablonde speaks directly to our time in biting detail.

Prue Van Teesen is thriving. That is, her life looks good on paper. She has an easy government job, a nice girlfriend, and a budding music career. When Prue is introduced to producer Jax Jameson, they instantly click. Prue soon joins Jax in his “Kingdom,” a collective of musicians and artists who share Prue’s aesthetic sensibilities and lust for escapism. Soon, she's off her meds, closing her law practice, and becoming entangled with a suspect crew of heavy drug users. But the group they form, Shiny AF, is starting to take off and Prue is on the precipice of getting everything she thought she wanted. So, why is she still so miserable?

Genres: Fiction, Queer, LGBT, Contemporary, Lesbian, Adult, Music

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 26, 2020

About the author

Anna Dorn is the author of Perfume & Pain, Exalted, Bad Lawyer, and Vagablonde. She was a Lambda Literary Fellow and Exalted was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. Her next novel, American Spirits, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster. She lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[mehta · Rating 3 out of 5]

if brat by charli xcx was a book but make it a bit vapid

[Marie-Therese · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF with prejudice at 40%.

The terrible risk an author takes writing a vapid, foolish, superficial protagonist in first person is penning a vapid, foolish, superficial book and Dorn has fallen into this trap head first. There is absolutely nothing deep, interesting, charming, or worth reading in the first 40% of this tiresome novel and I just don't have enough days left in my life to hope that the latter 60% is better and more meaningful.

Maybe Yeezy will like this. And, if he does, that should really tell you all you need to know about this limp little bit of pop culture gone astray.

[Tao · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I comfort myself by remembering that I'm just a bunch of molecules doing their own thing, utterly out of my control."

[Amanda Montell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I disdain pretty much every character in this book lol, but I still read it as addictively as Vaga pops those little blue pills. What a weird, terrifying little world this novel creates. Also I LOVE the cover.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

God I love Anna

Hilarious, sincere, relatable and challenging. She's done it again (not really "again" here but you get my point). I went into this completely blind and am SO glad I did. My #1 suggestion would be to read this baby, then Perfume & Pain (not order in which they were pubbed here, but it's the order I did em in, right in a show, and I think ending on the most shocking novel was most fun for me), then Exalted, thennn Bad Lawyer: A Memoir of Law and Disorder.

I mean this with 0 shade (clarifying bc it could def be taken the wrong way); having read P&P and Exalted first, reading Vagablonde I could tell it was her debut. Truly, that's not a knock on this one. What I'm trying to say is that Anna's talent was apparent here, and she's pushed boundaries & comfort zones ever since.

[Downward · Rating 3 out of 5]

another la novel. vagablonde is about a lawyer who wants to be a rapper and then becomes a rapper but in doing so descends into a manic world of excessive partying. there's basically nothing more embarrassing than 'wanting to be a rapper' so this book starts out in a pretty deep hole but capably digs itself out with the manic world of excessive partying. it is compulsively readable and the effusive use of pop culture references places it in a time and place that doses you with real atmosphere. I liked it, even if I don't buy for a second that a lawyer living in Los Angeles would have an apartment that didn't have FUCKING AIR CONDITIONING. I WORKED FOR 8 DOLLARS AN HOUR AT RITE AID IN LOS ANGELES AND I USED THAT MONEY TO GET FUCKING AIR CONDITIONING. WHAT THE HELL.

[Sunny Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Second half way weaker than the first

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was hoping for Michele Tea readalike but this just wasn't it. If you want to read about endless drug-fueled days then maybe this will work for you, just not enough to keep me interested.

[kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is about a 30 year old woman who goes off her antidepressants, becomes a rapper under the name “vagablonde” and joins a rap group called “Shiny AF” . this is what dreams are made of this is the american dream

[Laurel McLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

The 1 star reviews on goodreads because the characters are irritating and vapid?? that’s literally what I love about this book. The characters are so unhinged and unlikeable and the vibe is so chaotic. I did not want to put this book down. I read Exalted in the same week and love that these books are set in the same universe with the same characters, bars etc. I also just bought Perfume and Pain but need to take a little Anna Dorn break before I read it so I don’t overdo it as these books are definitely all very similar.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

anna dorn writes like a dazed and confused journalist with a secret gossip girl instagram and i'm all up for it

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and poignant recounting of a young millenial's simultaneous rise to social media celebrity and downward spiral to self knowledge. Like if Bright Lights, Big City was updated and set in Echo Park. Fans of Stray City, Less Than Zero, and Money will love it.

[Vicky Kalpaxis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was like Daisy Jones & The Six x My Year of Rest and Relaxation. The main character gave major Otessa Moshfegh vibes because she was super self destructive and unlikeable. Overall, it was a quick read because it was super entertaining but the writing is meh. Also, there are so many Kanye references that did not age well and were super annoying. I’d still read for the messy, deranged woman vibes though 😎

[ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Are the only lives we want the ones we aren’t living?”

I love anything Anna Dorn writes. Obsessed with the unhinged yet relatable main character. Loved the plot & chaotic vibes. Such a fun read, yet with depth, as is typical for her writing. Loved it!!

[jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

after exalted i was pretty excited for this.. but vagabonde wasn’t as campy or laugh out loud funny to my disappointment. i, too, would love to live in delusion like vaga. something about watching 30 somethings increasingly becoming unhinged via illicit substances and going on benders in the city all whilst pursuing (flop) rap careers was like watching a train rolling off the tracks in a fiery heap and taking down fifty skyscrapers and a small army, but yumiko and jake were cool

ALSO beau??? what are you doing here 🤨 get ur sister wife loving self outta here

2.5 stars (.5 is for vaga’s monologue about hair being more crucial to a woman than anything else)

[abi · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOPE

this is one of the most vapid, self-involved, boring books i've ever read in my life

[Keaton · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. This book was irritating

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vagablonde is a book as glittering and shiny and bright as LA itself. Well, a certain version of LA. The vapid, culturally bankrupt, superficial version. Pretty much what you’d expect from a book that starts with Kanye quote. A book about a character who worships Kanye as genius. But…maybe it’ll be a satire, I was thinking (turns out) erroneously. No, it isn’t. This is more along the lines of Brent Easton Ellis privilege in a modern day package. A not even so cautionary tale of a culture of excess. So yeah, it took some getting used to, seems like the winning formula was to just approach this as a train wreck, which is a fairly apt descriptor for the protagonist. Prue Van Teesen, as steeped in white privilege as the name suggest, a 30 year old professional appellate lawyer who dreams of a career as a rapper under the moniker Vagablonde. So far the stars haven’t lined up for her, stage fright and scarcity of connections being the main obstacles, but that’s all about to change once she meets Jax, the charismatic post sexual music producer who decided to make an album featuring her rapping. And so it begins, Prue’s ascent into her proverbial 15 minutes of fame. It won’t be done quietly, cleanly or soberly, but it will be done. Because this is a classic 3 act structured novel, you pretty much know the 15 minutes won’t last. It’s mainly just about the lead in, wild party, aftermath. You will care about the book directly in proportion to how much you will care about Prue and she is a very difficult to care about sort of person. She deliberately and systemically sabotages the only authentic and decent relationships in her life…presumably owning to primly disapproving withholding parents. She can’t seem to function without being chemically addled to some degree. She repeatedly makes terrible choices. At times she lives up to every trite blonde stereotype. There is something compelling about her, but it’s the same level of compelling as a train wreck, it’s difficult not to pay attention, because it’s such a freaking mess. Plus every so often she has these glimpses of clarity or amusingly wry observations that display a certain awareness of the ludicrousness of her plot. And at times she’s funny. That’s about it. Rapping wise, well, she was good enough for a (quickly) passing fad. She’s no Kanye (good thing that, the world doesn’t need another one of those). This probably might have been a satire, it says a lot about the culture and millennials and so on. But it seems to have opted for cheaper thrills instead. I actually can’t think of any good white female rappers, had to google that. Or male ones for that matter. And Vaga is definitely more like Wahlberg family than, say, Eminem. In quality, staying power, etc. And her funky bunch are a variety of equally chemically addled babies of privilege, technicolor bright weirdos of perfectly matched vapidity. Everyone wants to be famous, everyone wants to be an artist. That’s old news. But millennials are a generation that took it as birthright and so that’s what they do. Self actualize and take way too long to do so. Actually, this might even be vaguely autobiographical (You'll soo know all about this, because author's next book is going to be a memory, yet another obscenely generational thing...memoirizing at such young age to commemorate one's own so very special journey and one's underwhelming life experience at what...30? early 30? seriously?)). Like Vagablonde, the author is a UC Berkley educated former lawyer who lives in California. Though nowhere in her bio did it mention any rapping aspirations. Though technically both are writers. Talk, talk, talking about their generation. Though, to be fair, only one of them is subverting the traditional platform of the socially and economically oppressed to do so. No, not even going to go there. Leaving this where it belongs, somewhere in the middle of a trendy hip LA party, doing coke lines off the gold leaf toilet seat or whatever the tackier thing you can imagine. It was kinda fun while it lasted, Vagablonde, but it’s good that we’re through. Not all that glitters and all that, you know.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so, so repetitive- I really don't know how this bypassed an editor. I hate being mean to books but this one needed to be cut down a lot- It felt like every scene was the same, with Prue waking up, getting high/drunk, then heading over to the Kingdom. Also, it started a lot of scenes/chapters with her waking up, which is a cliché I am not fond of.

On top of repetitiveness, I found the writing a little bit childish- jokes didn't land and I felt it was written for someone younger than me (21), though the subject matter wasn't. Also, I really didn't like the characters: Nina was annoying and if you took a shot every time Jax said "Vagaaaaa" you would be drunk.

It did have a somewhat interesting plot though.

I was really looking forward to this book, but unfortunately it wasn't that good :/

[Geonn Cannon]

I'm not going to rate this or put it toward my yearly reading count, I just really wanted to let people know that the reason I stopped reading is because the main character references Kanye West eleven times in the first 50 pages. And when she's not doing that, she's being the kind of person who would name drop Kanye West eleven times on fifty pages. Like, come on, 2020 wasn't THAT long ago... we knew who he was by then.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know when you read a terrific book and then you race out to buy everything the author has written and it's disappointing? That.

Vapid characters, a thin and convenient plot set over an unlikely timeline, and all of it fuelled by an enormous quantity of drugs and alcohol... basically a hot mess. The only question that remains is do I bother with her other books? (Probably not).

2/5

[Sarah S · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 stars. This had some great quotes about anxiety but otherwise it was just so boring and took forever to get anywhere. I was more invested in the protagonist’s cat’s fate than I was hers…

[Caitlin Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️, I love a mentally unwell main character

[Krissy (books_and_biceps9155) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhhh Anna…I love you. This book is hilarious, weird, relatable and made me want to slap everyone. Much like Perfume & Pain, this novel follows another depressed individual who is trying to find herself while on lots of drugs, alcohol and getting off her antidepressants all at the same time. A lot, right? She is also wanting to start a career as a rapper at age 30, while being white and coming from a very privileged background. Charli XCX anyone?

I know this sounds bizarre and probably wondering how its relatable?! Dorn really shines in her exploration of the heart. You can’t help but feel for Prue (Our MC) and understand lots of her emotional and mental err issues. I am glad I read this as it was her debut, and it makes me excited because each of her books just get better. Also I am obsessed w this cover! Thank you @kelseyliftsanddips for buddy reading with me. You are the best!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly the average LA experience

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the concept “millennial” were a novel, it would probably be this one. Highly readable and entertaining, yet subtly laced with very serious undertones about drug abuse and mental health, and despite its over-the-top extraness eerily relatable (at least to a Virgo).

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m obsessed with the way Anna Dorn makes me feel like I’m inside Prue’s head going for a lil’ spiral. Definitely read Exalted first! You’ll recognize some characters and places. Or just get high in a strip club in LA.

[Skyler Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked exalted better but this was alright

[Ayala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently if Anna Dorn writes it I’m going to like it.

[Billie Libot · Rating 5 out of 5]

What came first; my insomnia or Vagablonde?