So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

Hunter Braque is a trend setter, in that he gets paid to discover the newest, coolest, most cutting edge advances in retail. The innovators start it, he discovers it, passes it on to the higher ups, and after the coolness factor sets in, it gradually works its way down to being passe. It’s when he’s discovering a new style of shoelaces someone is wearing that he gets to know the innovator herself, Jen James. Together, they go on a crazy adventure involving Hunter’s missing boss, Mandy, the most fabulous bootleg shoes ever, purple dye, fake products, and a corporation whose goal is to change the face of consumerism for good.

So Yesterday was a lot of things: mystery, romance, satire. I hated it as a mystery, was indifferent to the romance, but oh how I loved the satire!

Essentially, the mystery revolves around shoes and a bunch of random guys trying to talk to Hunter and Jen, with them running away. It reminded me so much of that episode of Saved by the Bell when the gang is locked in the mall while camping out for tickets (U2 or Pearl Jam maybe?) and they think the goons chasing them are mobsters who are trying to kill them. It turns out that they’re just on Candid Camera and have been on TV the whole time. I don’t think it would be a huge spoiler to tell you that unfortunately, Westerfeld didn’t take a page from the old Bayside High play book (a huge mistake in my opinion). The company is actually supposed to be some sort of legitimate threat, operating under nefarious purposes that I’m not too ashamed to admit I don’t quite understand.

Like I said, I’m indifferent to the romantic aspect. It didn’t play a huge part in the story and I’m appreciative of that as it would have distracted from all of the fascinating shoe intrigue.

This was the second Westerfeld book I’ve read and I’m in awe of his writing, shoes be damned. There was this running thing throughout the book where Hunter, discussing trends, would not so subtly reference something that Westerfeld would no doubt have had to pay the company for had he named names. A certain Japanese cartoon where you gotta catch ’em all, a smiling kitty whose name is a common salutation, a four letter credit card company, etc. There’s so much subtle humor in So Yesterday, and so clever, that it totally makes up for the whole shoe thing. I hate being one of those people who go on and on about how something is funny, but won’t give examples, but it’s hard to explain here. If you like sarcasm and/or dry wit, it’s for you. If your idea of hilarity is someone getting hit in the face with a pie (excepting of course the great television show, What Would You Do?) and then falling over a chair, maybe not.

I’ve been working my way through Malcolm Gladwell’s first book, The Tipping Point, which would have been finished ages ago if I had been in a non-fiction state of mind. I thought about it so often here, as it’s about how and when things become popular or take hold. Since So Yesterday is a few years old and Westerfeld is such a well known writer, I’m sure some people who are reading this have read it already. If you enjoyed it, even though I haven’t finished The Tipping Point yet, I can recommend it as something you’ll probably really like.

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