Preview of The Fan Club Summary:

Initial reviewers found The Fan Club preposterous as well as tasteless. They objected to a plot in which four sexually frustrated males abduct a film star in hope that she will act out their erotic fantasies. When Sharon refuses, they rape and brutalize her. Hoping to weaken or divide her jailers, she decides to cooperate. Soon satiated with sex, the kidnappers now demand a ransom for the actress's release. Their plan is foiled by the captive's cleverness; three of the men are killed as the police move in.

As sensational as the plot is, Wallace explores several serious dimensions of sexuality. The four captors are presented as a cross-section of American males whose sexual psychology is the product of the influence of popular media such as men's magazines and movies. An epigraph from Samuel Johnson signals this theme: "Were it not for imagination, sir, a man would be...