{"product_id":"lean-cat-savage-cat-a-salacious-romp-of-breathtaking-self-invention-and-spectacular-self-destruction-service95-9781526682116","title":"Lean Cat, Savage Cat: 'A salacious romp of breathtaking self-invention and spectacular self-destruction' - SERVICE95","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eTalented Mr Ripley \u003c\/i\u003efor contemporary Berlin: a twisting, sensual, heady and razor-sharp exploration of creativity, fame, desire and the divided self\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eTalented Mr Ripley \u003c\/i\u003efor contemporary Berlin: a twisting, sensual, heady and razor-sharp exploration of creativity, fame, desire and the divided self\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Riotous and raunchy ... \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ea salacious romp of breathtaking self-invention and spectacular self-destruction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e’ \u003ci\u003eService95\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘The book that’s been missing from my reading habits: classically glamourous, timelessly seductive’ Torrey Peters\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘An erotic spectacular of self-creation and spiralling disintegration’ Olivia Laing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e____________________________________________________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCharli has finished art school and now has no idea what to do with her life. She’s broke, disillusioned and her flatmates hate her. One night at a bar in Soho, however, everything changes when she first encounters the charismatic musician Alexander Geist. Androgynous, glamorously handsome, mysterious and just a little sinister, he feels something like a soul mate; and so when he heads off to Berlin, Charli follows. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere, at the centre of the city’s febrile party scene, Charli and Alexander embark on their great project: to make Alexander into the biggest star since David Bowie. But Alexander is elusive, mercurial; and Charli is in over her head before she realises just how self-destructive her life has become under his spell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA story of obsession and excess, doppelgängers and disassociation, fame and the terrible things we do to feel loved, \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e is an unforgettable novel from one of the most exciting writers at work today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781526682116\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.8(H)x15.8(L)x3.8(W)560\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 560\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eLauren J. Joseph was born in Liverpool and lives in London. Her film and performance work has been shown internationally. Joseph’s debut novel \u003ci\u003eAt Certain Points We Touch\u003c\/i\u003e was selected as a book of the year by \u003ci\u003eStylist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSheerluxe \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eFoyles\u003c\/i\u003e, and she was named one of the Observer’s debut novelists of the year. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elaurenjohnjoseph.com \u003cbr\u003e@lauren_j_joseph \u003cbr\u003elaurenjohnjoseph.substack.com\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e is the book that’s been missing from my reading habits: classically glamourous, timelessly seductive, and painfully aware of the pitfalls of styling a life that cuts against the norm. Lauren J. Joseph is a wit and an assassin from one sentence to the next -- TORREY PETERS, author of Detransition, Baby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA riotous and raunchy novel … a salacious romp of breathtaking self-invention and spectacular self-destruction. It’s a story of obsession and excess, doppelgängers and disassociation, fame and fandom, and the terrible things we do to feel loved\u003c\/p\u003e * SERVICE95 *\u003cbr\u003eA razor-sharp rip through modern-day Berlin and the dark underbelly of fame … \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e is a stylish novel that blends humour, chaos, and emotional depth. It’s also highly filmic ... The next \u003ci\u003eSaltburn\u003c\/i\u003e * IRISH INDEPENDENT *\u003cbr\u003eA dense, humid dance floor of a book. I plunged feet-first into its hot, dark rooms, overspilling with scandal and sensuality. The language is lush and relentless - I inhaled every line -- JODIE HARSH\u003cbr\u003eEven though I know better, Lauren J. Joseph's dangerously stylish and relentlessly sexy novel made me long for wild nights among Berlin’s demi-mondaines: the glittering chaos, the glamour of bad decisions, the drugs and clubs and would-be Bowies with their would-be Romy Haags. I was completely delighted and impressed by the level of filth! -- ANDREA LAWLOR, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eA complex, compelling and wildly entertaining novel … a wonderfully amorphous read – just when you think it’s one thing it becomes another\u003c\/p\u003e * THE SKINNY *\u003cbr\u003eFor a wild and witty ride of sex, parties and transvestism in Berlin, go for \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e by Lauren J. Joseph * COUNTRY \u0026amp; TOWNHOUSE, 2026’s Best Book Releases To Get Excited For *\u003cbr\u003eAn erotic spectacular of self-creation and spiralling disintegration: a wunderkammer of spoiling promise that combines the mounting tension of\u003ci\u003e The Talented Mr Ripley\u003c\/i\u003e with the bleak, exquisite social comedy of Isherwood and Waugh, confirming the gimlet-eyed brilliance of Lauren J. Joseph -- OLIVIA LAING\u003cbr\u003eJoseph’s prose is as sharp as her imagination, as swishy as a pussy-bow and ( when need be) as blunt as a thrown hammer. Her storyline goes for Goth-romance broke, reimagining and role-reversing the classic pairing of Trilby and Svengali amidst the after-dark club-culture of a Bowie-haunted, stimulant-addled Berlin. Erotic obsession, bad drugs , worse decisions - and enough eye-rollingly explicit and gender-fucked backroom action to get anybody’s license revoked. What could possibly go wrong? -- NEIL BARTLETT\u003cbr\u003eI love when I read a book that drops me right in the middle of a scene. Not scene as in a piece of a story, but scene as in \u003ci\u003ea scene\u003c\/i\u003e. A music scene. An art scene. A party scene ... But the scene \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e takes you to is underpinned by a research project centered around iconic Berlin trans nightlife figure (and former lover of David Bowie) Romy Haag. It’s also about an obsession with a present-day Bowie-esque pop star. I’m hoping for something that feels a little like \u003ci\u003eVelvet Goldmine\u003c\/i\u003e? Even if it doesn’t, I know I’ll find something to love here * LIT HUB, Most Anticipated Books of 2026 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter her research project on Romy Haag, one of David Bowie’s transgender lovers, has stalled, Charli is unsure of what to do. After she bumps into Alexander Geist at a party, she follows him to Berlin in order to make him the biggest pop star on the planet\u003c\/p\u003e * OUR CULTURE, Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2026 *\u003cbr\u003eFrom the jump, \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e is a wild ride, rollicking and absurd and mystical in equal measure. It follows Charli, a struggling art-school grad, as she tumbles through a fog of glamour and drugs and romance, gathering speed until her inevitable crash * BUSTLE, The Most Anticipated Books Of Winter 2025-26 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eHedonism as a cure or a blind for discovery - imagine Sally Bowles and Holly Golightly eating the Thin White Duke and Dorian Gray - Lauren J. Joseph, employing psychedelic powers, tracks our tears through the most fabulous, the most neurotic, the most glamorously disastrous cabaret\u003c\/p\u003e -- PHILIP HOARE\u003cbr\u003eNo one is doing it like Lauren, a cool old soul with a refreshingly original sensibility. With its sexy humor, relentless pacing, and enchanting balance of silly and sinister, \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat \u003c\/i\u003eis (in appropriately cinematic terms) a screwball noir that deserves your full attention -- DAVEY DAVIS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eLauren J. Joseph’s sharp wit and tantalizing storytelling carried me deep into Berlin’s alluring and chaotic nightlife. A glamorous, seductive novel about obsession, self-destruction, and, ultimately, self-discovery\u003c\/p\u003e -- CARTER SICKELS\u003cbr\u003eThis book is a rare thing, a genuinely unmediated confrontation with desire. A book about the truths told by bodies and the lies told by brains -- KEIRAN GODDARD\u003cbr\u003eCelery sours and flings with rockstars - this novel is chock full of good old-fashioned glamour, seduction, and style. London bohemian dropout Charli doesn’t have much direction but does have an abandoned research project about Romy Haag - the transsexual disco singer and longtime David Bowie lover. This knowledge proves useful when she meets a musician - and the two enter a self-destructive, deliriously sexy mission of turning him into a star * PLAYBOY *\u003cbr\u003eIn this phantasmagoric folie à deux through a Berlin thick with historical echo and epic, decadent sex, Lauren J. Joseph gives a sharp new voice to the transsexual muse, on whose devotional labor the world of culture turns -- JEANNE THORNTON\u003cbr\u003eLauren J Joseph's writing goes from strength to strength. In this new novel she's created characters and scenes that are so vivid I thought I was hanging out with friends - voyeuristically judging their delusions and dramas! \u003ci\u003eLean Cat, Savage Cat\u003c\/i\u003e is a timely story dabbling in fame and love, sex and queerness, and it is riveting. I raced through this book -- ADAM ZMITH\u003cbr\u003eA fever dream about all the rusted and rare pieces of ourselves that shake loose when carried away * BOOKLIST *\u003cbr\u003eJoseph’s pitch-perfect voice propels Charli’s story toward its bitter end, and her keen eye captures both the hardscrabble glamour of her characters’ lives and the dark underside of a dream come true. This fierce and original narrative has the feel of a classic * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *\u003cbr\u003eAn edgy, often viciously funny romp of a novel ... For readers in the know, a sure thrill; for the rest, a book that can make you slightly cooler just by reading it * KIRKUS *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eAt Certain Points We Touch\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e A moving portrait of youth, friendship and first love * Observer, Debut Novelists of 2022 *\u003cbr\u003eAn essential read * Stylist *\u003cbr\u003eThis vivid debut novel has a live current running through its pages ... An impressive debut with lines that linger with on the page * Esquire *\u003cbr\u003eA smart, sparkling, twisting, millennial queer odyssey ... Lithe, perspicacious, melancholic and funny as hell * Attitude *\u003cbr\u003eBeautifully written, smart, snappy story of queer love. Incredibly funny and moving -- Juno Roche\u003cbr\u003eA stone-cold masterpiece, which in its scope, frankness and ambition reminds me of\u003ci\u003e The Line of Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e, retooled for the 21st century. By turns libidinous, hilarious, melancholy and full of feeling, it reveals Lauren John Joseph as a shocking new talent -- Olivia Laing\u003cbr\u003eLauren John Joseph writes with such wit, glamour, and Style! I haven’t read a book that so powerfully evokes what it’s like to be a wild young artist among other wild young artists since the Bright Young Things were publishing -- Torrey Peters\u003cbr\u003eThis is fabulous: screamingly funny, scandalously hot, opulent, deep - a devastating torch song of obsession and excess -- Jeremy Atherton Lin\u003cbr\u003eExamines queer loss and survival elegantly, devastatingly, and critically incisive. Lauren John Joseph is a writer to reckon with. I'll read whatever they'll write next -- Isabel Waidner\u003cbr\u003eLauren's debut novel is so exciting. The writing is so fresh, funny and gripping - and carries the trademark wit that I have always loved from Lauren -- Travis Alabanza\u003cbr\u003eA bacchanalian journey through the bars of London’s Soho and Berlin’s party scene * MASTERMIND *","brand":"Lauren J. Joseph","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48926804639961,"sku":"9781526682116","price":39.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781526682116.jpg?v=1783736287","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/lean-cat-savage-cat-a-salacious-romp-of-breathtaking-self-invention-and-spectacular-self-destruction-service95-9781526682116","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}