Michael Marcus (the father of Ben Marcus, the character) opens Notable American Women with several warnings - most notably, that his own offspring, Ben, may very well be mentally handicapped - and ponders reflectively, "How can one word from Ben Marcus''s rotten, filthy heart be trusted?" With that, Ben Marcus (the author) launches into a lengthy first-person narration with Ben Marcus as guide, allowing the reader to decide if, and how, any of the words can be trusted. Playing with the English language in such a manner that his work has drawn comparison''s to Anthony Burgess''s A Clockwork Orange, among other novels, Marcus describes the cultish, recondite practises of his mother, her enigmatic mentor Jane Dark, and their legion of disciples as they attempt to create perfect stillness in the world by eliminating the "wind violence" of speech and, ultimately, physical movement. Dark, witty, and depressing in its ironic hilarity, Notable American Women allows the reader to delve into the mind of a well-meaning but obtuse young man, to glimpse into his turbulent upbringing full of radical experimentation and forced-breeding (among other things) and, possibly, to become attached. In the end, the feminist Silentist group, to which Ben''s mother Jane Marcus belongs, is facing issues of endangerment due to the largely unsuccessful breeding procedures involving Ben and the growing number of its member that are reaching a stillness level, which makes them obsolete. Jane Marcus, too, is nearing complete and utter emotional obliteration, using a complex system of body contortions, and takes the opportunity to address the reader. Like her estranged husband before her (whom she purportedly assisted in relegating to a hole in her backyard), Jane takes a turn at narration, providing for the novel''s conclusion; addressing her husband with ultimatums and effrontery, the reader sees life from the last member of the core Marcus-family trinity, at which point the reader is left to draw her or his own conclusions.

Notable American Women

Roger and Bethany The primary plot of this novel involves two characters, Roger and Bethany, employees of a Staples in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The two characters come from very different walks of life. Roger, a middle-aged alcoholic, is coping with an ugly divorce from his wife and the loss of access to his child. Bethany, a goth girl, is dealing with coming of age and working in what Coupland referred to in his 1991 novel Generation X as a McJob. What brings the characters together is a journal that Roger has decided to keep. In the journal, Roger begins to discuss his issues and his pressing thoughts, including a novel he would like to write called “Glove Pond." Bethany finds this journal, and writes a letter to Roger. In the letter, Bethany says they should continue to write to each other, but to pretend that they know nothing about each other outside of the letters themselves at work. After writing letters back and forth, Roger and Bethany strike up a friendship in the letters. Soon, more letters are included in the book from other characters, for instance, from Bethany’s mother, DeeDee, who went out on a date with Roger, and also went to high school with him. Other letters include a letter from Roger’s wife, emails from employees within the store, and more. Interspersed within the main text is the novel within the novel: Glove Pond. As Roger begins to write Glove Pond, different characters in the novel respond to his writing in their letters. The Glove Pond sections are interspersed within the other letters. Glove Pond Excerpts of Glove Pond are scattered throughout the book, presumably appearing as Roger writes them. Glove Pond is a corruption of Edward Albee’s 1962 play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It concerns the two main characters, a couple named Steve and Gloria, and their dinner guests, Steve''s younger colleague, Kyle Falconcrest, and his wife Brittany, a surgeon. Roger writes in his diary that Glove Pond was supposed to contain characters such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton—drunk movie stars who engage in witty repartee. This is a fairly accurate description of Steve and Gloria, who are, in fact, a pair of broke alcoholics living in a dusty, neglected home. The plot of Glove Pond follows the dinner interactions between these characters. A reference to Glove Pond is seen in a short scene in the final episode of the TV adaptation of Coupland''s jPod. The character of Jim Jarlewski (Alan Thicke) is seen reading a hardcover copy of Glove Pond by Roger Thorpe.

The Gum Thief

From his base in Tel Aviv, Holocaust survivor Emmanuel Lieber directs a group of Jewish Nazi hunters in search of Adolf Hitler. Lieber believes that the former Führer is still alive and following rumours and hearsay, he tracks Hitler''s movements through South America, until after months of wading through swamps in the Amazon jungle, the search party finds the 90-year-old alive in a clearing. Lieber flies to San Cristóbal where he awaits the group''s return with their captive. But getting the old man out of the swamp alive is more difficult than getting in, and their progress is further hampered by heavy thunderstorms. Meanwhile, broken and incoherent radio messages between Lieber and the search party are intercepted by intelligence agents tracking their progress, and rumours begin to spread across the world of Hitler''s capture. Debates flare up over his impending trial, where it will be held and under whose jurisdiction. Orosso is identified as the nearest airfield to the last known location of the search party, and aircraft begin arriving at the hitherto unknown town. But when the search party''s radio fails and communication with Lieber is lost, they must make a decision: do they sit out the storms and deliver their captive to Lieber later, or do they try Hitler here and now in the jungle before their prize is snatched from them and Israel by the world at large, who they know will be waiting for them? Their decision is the latter, and against Lieber''s advice ("You must not let him speak [...] his tongue is like no other") they prepare for a trial with a judge, prosecution and defence "attorneys" selected from the members of the search party. Teku, a local Indian tracker, who had earlier burst in on their camp, is asked to observe the trial as an independent witness. The attention Hitler is receiving, however, renews his strength, and when the trial begins, he brushes aside his "defence attorney" and begins a long speech in four parts in his own defence: #Firstly, Hitler claims he took his doctrines from the Jews and copied the notion of the master race from the Chosen people and their need to separate themselves from the "unclean". "My racism is a parody of yours, a hungry imitation." #Hitler justifies the Final Solution by maintaining that the Jews'' God, purer than any other, enslaves its subjects, continually demanding more than they can give and "blackmailing" them with ideals that cannot be attained. The "virus of utopia" had to be stopped. #Hitler states that he was not the originator of evil. "[Stalin] had perfected genocide when I was still a nameless scribbler in Munich." Further, Hitler asserts that the number of lives lost due to his actions are dwarfed by various world atrocities, including those in Russia, China, and Africa. #Lastly, Hitler maintains that the Reich begat Israel and suggests that he is the Messiah "whose infamous deeds were allowed by God in order to bring His people home." He closes by asking, "Should you not honour me who have made [...] Zion a reality?" At the end of his speech, Teku is the first to react and jumps up shouting "Proven", only to be drowned out by the appearance of a helicopter over the clearing. *Emmanuel Lieber – Jewish Holocaust survivor and director of the search party to find Hitler; after crawling out of a death pit in Bialka he never took the time to mend and embarked on a life-consuming obsession to bring those responsible for the genocide to justice. *Search party (all Jewish with family ties to the Holocaust, except for John Asher) **Simeon – search party leader and "presiding judge" at Hitler''s trial; he is Lieber''s confidant and torn between leading the party into "unmapped quicksand and green bogs" and turning his back on the "quiet mania of Lieber''s conviction". **Gideon Benasseraf – falls ill and dies before the trial begins; during one of his fever-induced ramblings he suggests that Hitler is Jewish; he had sought out Lieber after being released from a sanatorium and spending three years recuperating in Paris where the care-free living consumed him with guilt. **Elie Barach – Orthodox Jew and "prosecution attorney" at the trial; he is the moral compass of the group, but his convictions are disturbed by Gideon Benasseraf''s fever-induced assertions that Hitler is Jewish and ends up believing that Hitler may be the second Messiah. **Isaac Amsel – an 18-year old boy and witness at the trial; **John Asher – half-Jewish and reluctant "defence attorney" at the trial; *Teku – local Indian tracker and independent witness at the trial; previously the search party''s guide who had abandoned them when they insisted on entering uncharted regions of the jungle, he continued tracking them from a distance before revealing himself. *Adolf Hitler – now 90 years old, the former leader of the Third Reich had not died in the Führerbunker in Berlin, but escaped to South America and hid in the Amazon jungle.

The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H.

The book, which takes place in late 19th century New York City, tells the story of the dispute between a self-made millionaire and a social revolutionary, with a third man futilely attempting to mediate the tense situation. The main character of the novel, Basil March, is a neutral character from whose viewpoint the reader experiences much of the story. He resides in Boston with his wife and children. The March family is persuaded by March''s idealistic friend Fulkerson to move to New York to help him start a new magazine, where the writers benefit in a primitive form of profit sharing. After some deliberation, the Marches move to New York and begin a rather extensive search for a perfect apartment. After many exhausting weeks of searching, Basil finally settles on an apartment full of what he and his wife refer to as "gimcrackery"--trinkets and decorations that do not appeal to their upper-middle-class tastes. Work at the new magazine, entitled Every Other Week begins. The magazine is bankrolled by a millionaire named Dryfoos, who made it rich after discovering natural gas on his farm in the Midwest, and who is now making money on Wall Street. Dryfoos'' son, Conrad, becomes the business manager of the magazine. An illustrator by the name of Angus Beaton, an old friend of Fulkerson''s, is chosen to head the art department. Beaton chooses Alma Leighton, for whom he has feelings, to illustrate the cover of the first issue. Berthold Lindau, an old friend of Basil March''s and a veteran of the American Civil War, becomes the translator. He knows many languages, so he selects and translates Russian, French, and German stories to publish in the magazine. Lindau lost his hand in a Civil War battle, fighting for the north because he was a strong abolitionist and an idealistic American immigrant. Colonel Woodburn, a wealthy Southerner, and his daughter move to New York and become involved with the newspaper when their social circle connects with the magazine''s; they board with Alma Leighton and her mother. Fulkerson decides that he would like to publish some of Colonel Woodburn''s pro-slavery writings in Every Other Week, because he believes it would sell more copies of the new magazine. At a dinner banquet, the personalities of Dryfoos the capitalist, Lindau the socialist, and Colonel Woodburn the pro-slavery advocate clash. Lindau fiercely criticizes Dryfoos, expressing his harshest feelings in German to March, because he does not think anyone else at the table speaks German. Later we learn that Dryfoos speaks German, and he was insulted by Lindau''s comments. In the end of the book, the New York City streetcar drivers strike. The strike, similar to the Hay Market Square Riot, turns into a riot. Conrad Dryfoos, already a humanitarian helping the poor and working class, is charmed by the lovely Margaret Vance, who shares his values of charity. She encourages Conrad to try to end the strike by telling all sides to desist. While attempting to stop a policeman from beating the aged and disabled Lindau, Conrad is fatally shot. March emerges from a streetcar to see the fallen men lying on the street next to each other. Dryfoos grieves the loss of his son. After further amputation of his already disabled arm, Lindau dies with Margaret Vance at his side. Dryfoos, who has always used money to separate himself from pain, sells the magazine to Fulkerson and March for an extremely low price and takes his remaining family to Europe.

A Hazard of New Fortunes

Hal Warner, a rich young fellow determined to find the truth for himself about conditions in the mines, runs away from home and adopts the alias "Joe Smith." After being turned away by one coal mine for fear of Hal being a union organizer, he gets a job in another coal mine operated by the General Fuel Company, or GFC. In the mines he befriends many of the workers, and realizes their misery and exploitation at the hands of the bosses. He befriends Mary Burke, who is a passionate a fighter for the workers'' rights. Her father is a mine worker who spends his days drinking and leaving her to take care of her siblings. She and Hal grow close, which tears at Hal''s loyalty to his fiancée back home. After dedicating himself to the workers'' cause, he tells them that he will appeal to the bosses to become a check weigh man who measures the amount of coal, but the GFC, wanting to cheat the workers out of their pay, appoints a company check weigh man. Hal is eventually put into the jail by the marshal, who is teased by Hal over conditions of the mines and accused by Hal of being corrupted and unfair to the workers. After an explosion in the mines, Hal seeks out Peter Harrigan, an old friend whose father owns the General Fuel Company. The workers organize a strike and union to demand their rights from the bosses, but the rescue effort goes longer than expected. The bosses are more intent on the tools and equipment than the miners. "Damn the man! save the Mules!" says a boss. Hal appeals to the United Mine Workers to back the strike, but they refuse, telling him that the strike is primitive and unexpected and that to support it when its just started to participate in action would waste the union''s resources. Hal is told to wait a few more years for the other unions to strike, and only with a massive course of action could the unions win. Hal is left to tell the workers the grievous news but the workers nevertheless cheer out his name (some calling out Joe Smith and others Hal) for standing up for them. After a confrontation with his brother Edward, Hal resolves to return home and dedicate his life to the workers'' cause. Hal leaves and concludes that he is in love with Mary Burke.

King Coal

Jenny Humphrey has attended some crazy parties at Waverly Academy, but none as hot as the bash at Miller farm, where the antique red barn went up in flames. Literally. So when Dean Marymount announces that someone is going to be held responsible and expelled from Waverly, it''s every owl for him and herself. Tensions are rising, rumors are flying, and pretty soon everyone is a suspect. Jenny is worried about her adorable, shaggy-haired new crush, Julian, whose silver engraved Zippo was found at the scene of the crime. Callie is petrified she and Easy both will get kicked out, because they were in the barn together when the blaze began. And Tinsley knows she’ll take the heat for organizing the wild soirée in the first place. Luckily she’s come up with a crafty way to keep from getting in trouble: by blaming Jenny. Julian and Jenny get "closer than ever" and just when "things can''t get any better," Jenny finds out the only reason Julian even met her is because he was hooking up with Tinsley Carmichael which causes Jenny to not trust him. Easy becomes very suspicious of Callie because of her comments towards Jenny starting the fire. Kara and Brett''s relationship goes public and Brett figures out she still loves Jeremiah and Kara and Heath hook up and become a couple. Shockingly, Tinsley''s plan works but it also backfires. Easy finds out that Callie had something to do with the plan to kick Jenny out, and tries to rescue Jenny. Callie and Easy''s relationship is over—Easy was put off by Callie''s plot to get Jenny out, which he discovered when Tinsley texted Callie-and Jenny still hasn''t forgiven Julian for lying to her. Easy supposedly paid off Old Lady Miller, whose barn got burned down, and Jenny is rescued and returned to Waverly. Old Lady Miller said that her cows caused it and not Jenny. Jenny admits into setting the barn on fire(and gets expelled) just because she can''t take everyone''s accusations, dirty looks, and rumors. However, Jenny is admitted back into Waverly.

Lucky

In Parker''s second Jesse Stone novel we find Chief Stone settled into his new life after the events that marked his arrival in Night Passage. Jesse’s ex-wife, Jenn, has also relocated to Massachusetts in nearby Boston. There she finds work, and minor celebrity status, as the weather girl for the Channel 3 news. Although Jesse and Jenn are seeing each other again, Jenn refuses to commit solely to him, and they both continue see other people. Jenn is seeing the lead news anchor, while Jesse juggles relationships with her, local real estate agent Marcy Campbell, and Abby Taylor. Throughout the novel Jesse’s sexual prowess is the subject of office wisecracking, which he doesn’t mind at all. The main plot of the novel concerns ex-con Jimmy Macklin. After being released from prison, Macklin hatches a plot to rob the entire community of Stiles Island. Stiles Island is accessible from Paradise by a bridge, and one boat port. Entrance to the Island is guarded by private security ensuring safety for its wealthy residents and island bank. Macklin puts together a crew with his partner Wilson “Crow” Cromartie, an American Indian. The rest of the crew consists of a demolitions expert, a boatman to pilot their nautical escape, and one other to cut the telephone lines and provide muscle. To fund their criminal enterprise, Macklin and Crow commit several violent crimes. Macklin rips off a local poker game and murders the man running it in the process. Crow murders two Chinese drug dealers and steals a large amount of poor quality cocaine. He then sells the cocaine to other drug dealers. Macklin, and his girlfriend, Faye, using the aliases Mr. and Mrs. Harry Smith, use Marcy Campbell to gain access to the island by posing as prospective home buyers. They also set up a meeting with Chief Stone to inquire about local crime. Macklin uses the meeting as a time to size up Chief Stone. However the meeting ends up working against him as Jesse finds him suspicious and begins to investigate him. He discovers that Harry Smith is really ex-con Jimmy Macklin, and begins staking out his apartment. During the Stakeout he runs the plates of their van and discovers it belongs to Crow. A phone call to a friend and fellow police officer in Arizona where the van is registered confirms that Crow is a dangerous criminal, and Jesse is warned not to confront him alone. The final third of the novel details the Stiles Island heist. Macklin and his crew drive onto the island and storm Marcy Campbell’s office which they intend to use as headquarters during the operation. They then murder the security guards and place one of their own at the bridge which they previously wired with explosives. Macklin and Crow begin going door to door stealing safe deposit box keys for the island bank from island residents and then locking them in their bathrooms. When a police cruiser tries to cross onto the island on patrol, they blow the bridge before it reaches the other side. Chief Stone is immediately notified, and they attempt to take a boat to the island, but before they reach the dock the criminals blow that too. With no way to the island, the Paradise police are forced to wait for the state police to arrive with a helicopter and SWAT team. Not satisfied to wait around, Stone gets a local man to take him as close to the island as he can in his boat, and then swims the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Macklin and crew finish ripping off the bank safe deposit boxes and head to the island’s restaurant with six female hostages, including Marcy. There they wait for high tide when their boat can get closer to the island. While they are waiting Crow murders two of their accomplices to increase their share of the loot. After the tide comes in, they make the hostages wade out to the boat carrying the loot. Crow climbs aboard the boat first, but before Macklin can even get in the water Stone confronts him at gunpoint. Macklin yells for Crow, but Crow and the boatman leave him and the hostages behind with Crow declaring that he doesn’t hide behind women. Macklin draws his weapon and Stone shoots and kills him. Police later find the boat washed up on shore with the boatman murdered and no sign of Crow or the loot.

Trouble in Paradise

The story picks up a few weeks after Suzanne has returned to Los Angeles from Gryylth. Silbakor has returned with her and poses as statuette in a glass paperweight. Though she carries Silbakor around with her and can return to Gryylth at will, she finds she cannot bring herself to do it. One night, she has a dream that Solomon Braithwaite has risen from the grave and is trying to tell her something. The following day, she gets a phone call from Helen Addams, Solomon''s ex-wife. She too had the dream and wanted to know what its meaning was. Suzanne visits her that night, and while there, they are attacked by the White Worm, Silbakor''s antithesis. They flee on Silbakor and arrive in Gryylth to find that eighteen months have passed. Suzanne takes on her familiar persona of Alouzon. Helen takes on the persona of Kyria, a sorceress, but she finds herself battling between her own vitriolic personality and Kyria''s more peaceable personality. The Gryylthians and the Dremords have made peace and are working together to make it through a difficult winter. Word comes that the town of Bandon has been destroyed by unknown means. When Alouzon and Kyria examine the wreckage, they see that modern weapons had been used: fighter jets, helicopters, napalm, rockets, machine guns, and bombs. The leaders conclude that the new land of Vaylle is responsible and decide to send a team to explore the new land and learn if they are responsible. Alouzon leads the team, consisting of soldiers from Gryylth and Corrin, Kyria, and Helwych, a Corrinian sorcerer, across the ocean. Landing, they find that Vaylle is an idyllic pacifist nation that worships a God and a Goddess: Solomon and Suzanne. Its king is a lame man known as King Pellam. There, they decide to split up: Helwych will stay behind in the capital city, and the rest of the party will continue across the mountains. When the party gets close to the mountains, Marrget, one of their party, is kidnapped by the Greyfaces, who are nameless and faceless soldiers in uniforms and gas masks. Following, the party finds themselves in a larger version of the Blasted Heath. When they split up, the Heath tests them with the embodiment of their worst fears. Alouzon and Kyria finally track down the source of the attacks: the Spectre, who embodies Suzanne''s worst subconscious feelings about both war and Solomon Braithwaite. Alouzon and Kyria battle the Spectre, with Kyria striking a decisive blow using her memories of being Solomon''s wife. In the aftermath, Helen''s persona dies and Kyria''s takes over for good. Alouzon flees on Silbakor and is attacked by the White Worm. Falling off Silbakor, she wakes up in Los Angeles, but in Alouzon''s body, not Suzanne''s.

Duel of Dragons

The novel is set in 2178 AD and follows the story of Maxim Kammerer, an experienced investigator of COMCON-2 who receives an order to track down a man named Lev Abalkin, who was not supposed to return to Earth but has returned nevertheless. The order was issued by in secret by Rudolf Sikorski (called "Excellency" throughout the book), the chief of COMCON-2. Studying the materials on Abalkin that Sikorski provided him with, Kammerer discovers that prior to his arrival on Earth, Abalkin was a progressor on Saraksh, working as an undercover agent in the power structures of the Island Empire. Among other materials, he find a sheet of paper with a strange symbol resembling the Cyrillic letter Ж or Japanese character 卅 (san juu) which only adds to his confusion. Kammerer''s search leads him to several of Abalkin''s friends and associates, including Maya Glumova who is a historian working in the Museum of Extraterrestrial Cultures (MEC) and Shokn the Golovan who worked closely with Abalkin in projects on Saraksh and Hope. Each of these has had recent contact with Abalkin, and report that he had been behaving strangely. Kammerer also begins to perceive a connection between Abalkin and progressor Kornei Yashmaa. Both men were born on the same day from mysteriously deceased parents. Late at night, Sikorski orders Kammerer to meet him at the MEC in order to ambush Abalkin. However, the one who comes to the Museum tonight is not Lev Abalkin but rather Issac Bromberg, Sikorski''s fiercest opponent in his policy about knowledge and its classification. Kammerer witnesses a long verbal argument, in which many of the detals of the Abalkin case are revealed. Apparently, Abalkin has called Bromberg via videophone and talked to him about the "detonators", an artifact stored in the closed section of the MEC where Sikorski and Kammerer had laid their trap. Reluctantly, Sikorski agreed to tell Maxim about the "foundlings": Abalkin (as well as Kornei Yashmaa) was a "foundling", one of thirteen humans born from embryos stored in the "sarcophagus" left by the Wanderers and discovered by Earthlings on an unnamed planet. The "detonators" were thirteen small discs each carrying a strange symbol identical to one that each of the "Stepchildren" had on his/her elbow. Abalkin''s symbol was the one resembling the Cyrillic letter "Ж". Upon returning to his COMCON-2 office with Maxim, Sikorski admits that he always believed that all "foundlings" carried a program deep in their subconsciousness that was potentially dangerous for Earth. It was because of this that all of them received an education that implied that they work as far from Earth as possible. Sikorski believes that Abalkin''s surprise return to Earth indicates that he has become a dangerous agent of the Wanderers. Kammerer does not believe that Abalkin poses a threat, but suggests that this is a psychological test engineered by the Wanderers. Kammerer likens the situation to when a human might put a "beetle in an anthill" simply to watch the alarmed reaction of the ants. Eventually Abalkin comes to Sikorski and Kammerer voluntarily, and finds the truth about his origins. He demands to be left alone, but Sikorski orders Kammerer to follow him. Sikorski himself sets off for the MEC. Kammerer, guessing what is to come, tries to convince Abalkin to leave Earth for his own safety, but to no effect. Abalkin enters the Museum of Extraterrestrial Cultures, and is shot three times by Sikorski and dies on the floor millimeters from his "detonator".

Beetle in the Anthill

The novel begins with a Japanese air strike on the port of Vladivostok, the prelude to a Japanese invasion of western Siberia. Simultaneously, Japanese forces strike southward, bypassing the American colony in the Philippines and taking Australia and the European colonies in southeast Asia. Facing invasion on two fronts, the Soviet Union soon collapses, as Joseph Stalin and his entourage are massacred by escapees from a gulag during their evacuation from Moscow. Though President Franklin D. Roosevelt endeavors to prepare the United States for war against Germany, he faces renewed isolationist opinion. A proposal to begin work on an atomic bomb is rejected because of the cost and uncertainty that it will work. Facing a resurgent Germany, Winston Churchill has little choice but to surrender. Adolf Hitler uses his dominance to complete the extermination of the Jews in Europe and expands his program to the Middle East. German scientists also complete work on an atomic bomb, which Hitler uses to destroy New York City and force the United States to surrender. When the Germans learn of the harsh Japanese treatment of the Australians, they force the Japanese to abandon their conquest of the continent on pain of atomic destruction. Though Germany now dominates the world, cracks start to appear in their empire. The puppet regime in the United States encounters resistance when they attempt to implement the "Final Solution" in America. News of the growing difficulties exposes the extent of the Holocaust to Albert Speer.

December 7, 1941: A Different Path

Bud Corliss is a young man with a ruthless drive to rise above his working-class origins to a life of wealth and importance. He serves in the Pacific in World War II, and upon his honorable discharge in 1947 he learns that his father was killed in an automobile accident while he was overseas. The most pivotal moment in his life occurs during the war, when he first wounds, then kills a Japanese sniper, who is so terrified that he wets his pants and begs for mercy. Corliss is elated by the total power he holds over the soldier; at the same time, he is disgusted by the man''s display of abject terror. Upon returning to the U.S., he enrolls in college and meets Dorothy Kingship, the daughter of a wealthy copper tycoon. Seeing an opportunity to attain the riches he has always craved, he becomes Dorothy''s lover. When she tells him she is pregnant, however, he panics; he is sure that her stern, conservative father will disinherit her. Resolving to get rid of Dorothy, he tricks her into writing a letter that, to an unknowing observer, would look like a suicide note, and then throws her from the roof of a tall building. He runs no risk of getting caught, having urged Dorothy to keep their relationship a secret from her family and friends. He continues to live with his mother, who dotes on him and has no clue as to what he has done. Corliss lies low for a few months until the press coverage of Dorothy''s death has subsided. Then he pursues Dorothy''s sister, Ellen. The romance is going according to plan &mdash; until Ellen begins to probe into Dorothy''s death, convinced her sister did not kill herself. Eventually, Ellen uncovers the truth about Corliss and confronts him. Corliss nonchalantly confesses to the crime and kills Ellen as well. Unfazed by this setback, Corliss courts the last remaining Kingship daughter, Marion. This affair is the most successful; Corliss sweeps her off her feet and charms her father, and soon he and Marion are engaged. Local college DJ Gordon Gant, who met Ellen during her investigation of Dorothy''s death, begins investigating the case, and is immediately suspicious of Corliss. He breaks into Corliss'' childhood home and steals a written plan for meeting and seducing Marion to get her family''s money, as well as news clippings about Dorothy''s and Ellen''s deaths. Days before the wedding, he shows up at the Kingship family home and presents Marion and her father with the evidence of Corliss'' deception. On a trip to one of the Kingship family''s copper manufacturing plants, Marion, her father and Gant all corner Corliss while he is standing over a vat of molten copper and threaten to expose him. Corliss frantically pleads his innocence, but his accusers are unmoved. Realizing his luck has finally run out, Corliss panics and wets his pants &mdash; just as the Japanese soldier, his symbol of pathetic cowardice, had done. Delirious with fear and shame, Corliss stumbles and falls to his death into the vat below.

A Kiss Before Dying

The authors argue that human beings evolved in egalitarian hunter-gatherer bands in which sexual interaction was a shared resource, much like food, child care, group defense, and so on. In this, they agree to a degree with the work of Lewis H. Morgan who proposed in the 19th century that pre-agricultural humans lived in "primal hordes" in which property and paternity was communal. They think that much of evolutionary psychology has been conducted with a bias regarding human sexuality. The authors believe that the public and many researchers are guilty of the "Flintstonization" of hunter-gatherer society; that is to say projecting modern assumptions and beliefs onto earlier societies. Thus they think that there has been a bias to assuming that our species is primarily monogamous despite what they believe to be evidence to the contrary. They argue for example, that our sexual dimorphism, testicle size, female copulatory vocalization, appetite for sexual novelty, various cultural practices, and hidden female ovulation, among other factors strongly suggest a non-monogamous, non-polygynous history. The authors argue that mate selection was not the subject of much intragroup competition among pre-agricultural humans, as sex was neither scarce nor commodified; rather sperm competition was a more important paternity factor than sexual selection. This behaviour survives among certain existent hunter-forager groups that believe in partible paternity. The authors do not take an explicit position in the book regarding the morality of monogamy or alternative sexual behaviour in modern society, but argue that people should be made aware of our behavioral history.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Notable American Women

By Ben Marcus

The Gum Thief

By Douglas Coupland

The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H.

By George Steiner

A Hazard of New Fortunes

By William Dean Howells

King Coal

By Upton Sinclair, Jr.

Lucky

By Cecily von Ziegesar

Trouble in Paradise

By Robert B. Parker

Duel of Dragons

By Gael Baudino

Beetle in the Anthill

By Boris Strugatsky

December 7, 1941: A Different Path

No Author Listed

A Kiss Before Dying

By Ira Levin

Sex at Dawn

No Author Listed