Cabot Wright Begins

Even in 1964, when this novel was first published, it would have been an uphill slog to plausibly characterize a serial rapist as a philanthropist, and the angle of ascent has only increased in the ensuing decades. Cabot Wright works on Wall Street after graduating from college, but his main activity is rape—“he was no respecter of age, raping girls, young ladies, middle-aged matrons, and even elderly women.” But Wright is no violent psychopath; he uses “some form of hypnotism” on his prey, raping “easily and well.” If that description isn’t offensive enough, having women eagerly anticipating his attentions rather than fearing them will be more than most readers will tolerate, even if offered with tongue-in-cheek awareness. Wright’s predations are recounted via an awkward framing device—a sad-sack car salesman, Bernie Gladhart, is egged on by his wife to travel to Brooklyn to interview Wright for a novel based on his life. Pretentious prose (“Loneliness feels so good after the mythic contact with the social”) doesn’t enhance this unsuccessful satire. (July)