I know this was supposed to tell me something about artists and misogyny etc etc but I was too busy gasping in horror and saying “ew!” out loud to notice it. There wasn’t really a plot. There was no character development- Richard never changed. He was sexist and rapey from page 1 to page 271. At one point he even says that every beautiful and smart woman wants to find someone she matches with intellectually, but that it’s not possible because beauty is too distracting for men and therefore no man will ever be able to view her as intellectually equal. He also says that every woman’s fertile womb craves children, whether or not they know it. Every woman is described first by the size of their breasts, then by their level of interest in him. So on and so forth.

If he had anything important to say, I was simply too disgusted to listen. Maybe if he had learned from his behavior, or if the author had given us any clue that this isn’t autobiographical, I might have liked it. But frankly, I just feel dirty. I’m going to go take a shower and forget I ever read this one.