Looking For Mr. Goodbar by Judith Rossner was a sensation when it came out in 1975, staying on the NY Times bestseller list for 36 weeks - the fourth highest selling novel of the year. It was made into a film starring Diane Keaton and Richard Gere in 1977. Perhaps most notorious for its shocking ending, it has the same intensity as the novel; both are unforgettable psychological studies of a woman's descent.
Above all, the writing is excellent.
It begins with a confession to the murder of Theresa Dunn. Rossner then introduces Theresa with such nuanced and insightful writing of character that I completely forgot she was the victim - the story becomes hers. We see her growing up with a beautiful sister she envies (and one she disregards), having an affair with a professor in college, and setting up a New York apartment as she begins a job teaching children. She rebels against the roles society places on her, not wanting to end up like her parents. She also has trouble reconciling her sexual awakening, tending to date men who are unavailable or unappealing to her; then cruising local bars to pick up one-night-stands she cares nothing about, actually feels revulsion for, and will never see again, to fulfill her sexual appetite. After several affairs, she has a steady boyfriend who she constantly repels and lies to, who she won't have sex with - who would want someone like her? - and her increased drinking leads her more frequently to anonymous sex to fill her emptiness. As foretold in the beginning, a drifter she picks up for sex turns violent, bringing an end to her life.
I enjoyed the movie and wanted to read the original material, based on a real life incident. Unlike most novels with a murder, we don't turn to the witnesses and the suspects - the attention is devoted to the life of the victim. Rossner successfully walks a delicate edge where the danger might be to judge Theresa for acting sexually the same way men have always done, or to place the power with the killer's misogyny.
Taking place in the 1970's I would set this alongside films like Klute and even An Unmarried Woman, featuring women realizing their own power outside of relationships with men. Never hearing before she left home words like abortion and masturbation, her explorations include the growing movement of women's groups, and the experience of the female orgasm. There is frank sexual talk (and liberal use of the c word). Although it may be read as a study of claustrophobic misery, I would like to think this was such a hit because it is about a woman's empowerment, saying to women at the time you can have the same sexual power as men. However, it's hard to champion this theme when it leads to the random violence Theresa has opened herself up to. I can't judge Theresa for her actions, I can only remind myself that it is Rossner's excellent writing that has brought her so completely to life.
The ending remains shocking. The last line unforgettable.
Recommended for exceptional, nuanced writing.
1975 / Tradeback / 280 pages
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