Untitled Novel

The title character of Peter Lefcourt's latest novel is Ernie Haas, a successful urologist who leaves the story's canvas rather abruptly after being castrated by his wife during a kinky sexual encounter in the kitchen of their Schenectady, New York home. This sordid event soon becomes the focal point of a media circus as Audrey Haas goes on trial for murder. Her case attracts the interest of feminist lawyers, ambitious DAs, and story-hungry journalists in search of the next "trial of the century." Throughout the course of this "Sodom in Schenectady," Mr. Lefcourt walks a fine line between exaggeration--satire's stock-in-trade--and the pitfalls of excess, but seldom does he falter. Starting with Ernie's death in a lady's knit suit and open-toed high heels and continuing straight through Audrey's celebrity trial, he piles absurdity on top of absurdity so expertly that the story seems fresh and original despite its resemblance to real-life headlines.