Elsinor

by Charles Webb

Dust jacket design by Paul Bacon. His sixth book and fifth novel by the author of The Graduate.

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Charles Webb (born in San Francisco, California) was the author of several novels, mainly known for his most famous work, The Graduate. The novel was eventually made into an enormously successful film.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Webb's classic tale of gas-lighting finds wife Laura - as always - is the last to know.

Her husband John has gone missing, and his trail leads to a bath house where men feel uninhibited to pursue their sexuality. What she finds out in the process is that John wants a divorce, and with a little gas-lighting from the neighbors and a persuasive lawyer, he might just get his wish.

She slowly sees her idyllic life for what it actually was, and rather than fight to keep the status quo, Laura is simply looking to find out where she stands. There's an excellent scene with a 50-something prostitute who espouses about the sexual revolution, but even that might not be quite what it seems, either.

Through the journey, Laura doesn't want her old life back - but as she takes blindside after blindside blow, we see she's not going to be pushed around, either.

Webb's economical language is in all its glory in 'Elsinore,' and Laura's story fits nicely into his life's work.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild and weird. Not sure if the subject matter could make the jump, but I'd love to see a young auteur take a crack at a film version of this. John has left Laura and apparently leapt headlong into the gay bathhouse culture of the 1970s, to the point that he's the strange beating heart of a mysterious love triangle. He's also enlisted a lawyer and some cronies willing to set up Laura so that he can secure custody of their children. Why? Well, that's frustratingly underexplained. If you can let go of that, and accept that the story does not tie up neatly at all, it's an interesting attempt at a "does anyone truly know themselves or anyone else?" kind of novel. It also for some reason reminded me vaguely of the Candy Montgomery story. This one has more erotic menace than showstopping violence, but it's still an often compelling semi-Lynchian psychosexual lurker.

[Cody Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Charles Webb fucking rules.