Woo Woo: A Novel [Hardcover]

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.NPR, A Best Book of the Year
Literary Hub, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of Fall

“A bewildering exploration of exposure and autonomy and of seeing and being seen, through art and in life.” —Kristen Martin, A NPR Best Book of the Year

Woo Woo [is] a hyper-focused character study of a working artist in the age of platform capitalism. It at once lampoons and indulges the quirks of the self-marketing creative . . . As both a satire of the contemporary art world and a sincere portrait of the 'chronically online' artist, Woo Woo effectively captures the emergent energies of a generation accustomed to transgression and feminislSÕ