Book Description
A thrilling and eccentric novel about what it means to make art as a woman, and about the powerful forces of voyeurism, power, obsession, and online performance
Woo Woo follows Sabine, a conceptual artist on the verge of a photo exhibition she hopes will be pivotal, as she plunges deeper into her neuroses and seeks validation in relationships—with her frustratingly rational chef husband, her horde of devoted Gen Z TikTok followers, and even a mysterious, potentially violent stalker.
Accompanying her throughout are Sabine’s strange alter egos, from hyperrealistic puppets of her as a baby to the ghost of conceptual artist Carolee Schneemann, who shows up with inscrutable yet sage life advice.
Ella Baxter approaches the desire to see and be seen that defines both the creative and romantic act with humor, empathy, and a good dose of wildness, driving Sabine to an surreal and compelling climax that forces her—and us—to reconsider what it means to be an artist and a partner.
Praise For This Book
Literary Hub, A Most Anticipated Book of the YearThe Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of Fall
“Sure-to-be strange, sure-to-be-gripping . . . A new form of art monster rises over the horizon . . . ” —Drew Broussard, Literary Hub
"Delightfully untamed . . . Baxter expertly builds suspense via Sabine’s increasing distress and the presence of the stalker, and she succeeds at keeping readers guessing at the line between reality and Sabine’s twisted perceptions. Those with a fondness for unreliable narrators will have a blast." —Publishers Weekly
"The whirligig pace of the novel relentlessly intensifies from chapter to chapter as Sabine navigates the boundary between real and manufactured, all in front of a live audience . . . The book is a pointedly absurdist send-up of the pretensions of the art world, which nevertheless carries at its core a real exploration of what is at stake when one lives for art. Baxter continues her triumphant exploration of real lives lived on the fringes of the surreal. Sassy, sharp, and very funny, but with a consequential heart." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Woo Woo is a deeply enthralling, lowkey disturbing, and very funny portrait of an artist teetering at the edge of a spiral. I'm awestruck." —Samantha Irby
"Smart, razor sharp, and witty, Woo Woo takes us on a wild journey of female ambition, art, social media, stalkers, and dinner parties full of people with exquisite mullets vaping. I’ll read anything Ella Baxter writes—and Woo Woo is unmissable." —Sarah Rose Etter, author of Ripe
"Equal parts satire, ghost story and fever dream, Woo Woo is sharply funny and thrillingly original. In her examination of artistic ambition, female rage and the obsessions that haunt us, Ella Baxter proves to be an electrifying literary force. To read her fiction is to be in the company of a truly singular mind." —Madelaine Lucas, author of Thirst for Salt
"Brimming with rich and visceral prose, Woo Woo elegantly traverses the realms of performance art, intimacy, and online surveillance. A wild odyssey, this book made me feel delightfully seen, and absolutely feral." —Nada Alic, author of Bad Thoughts
"Ella Baxter's Woo Woo is hysterically funny, a wild, unhinged journey into the heart of bewilderment. For Sabine, a conceptual artist, all of life, all of emotion, all human relationships, have the potential to become art. What does that mean when her newest exhibition nears, and a stalker makes himself known? This mordant, feral novel is an explosion of art and fury, and it is the best book I've read in a long while." —Lindsay Hunter, author of Hot Springs Drive
"Ella Baxter has written a mesmerizing, strange, propulsive world of art and loneliness and sleep deprivation that swirls her readers around like wine in a glass, forcing us to reckon with who we are and what we believe. One of the few books about process and creation that doesn't get lost in its own self-importance, Woo Woo is a novel people will want to talk about for years to come. Baxter is a master." —Kelsey McKinney, author of God Spare the Girls
"Ella Baxter has the rare capability to crack you up, make you squirm, and stun you into silence. She captures a modern moment and drags it, by the leash, onto the stage, where she has it bear an eternal question: do I want to be known or do I want to be watched?" —Melissa Lozada-Oliva, author of Candelaria
