Summary

pp. 1 – 33. In first person narration, graduate student Regina describes her first encounter with English professor Nicholas Brodeur, paying particular attention to his physical beauty and his somewhat eccentric way of dressing. She describes having been warned about his reputation as a sexual predator, but finds herself signing up for his classes anyway, primarily out a mixture of intellectual curiosity and sexual intrigue. She also describes her complex, occasionally sexual relationship with her clever, arrogant, self-absorbed roommate Dutra.

As the fall semester progresses, Regina finds herself drawn even more to Brodeur. She also encounters even more hints of his sexual inappropriateness, including bathroom graffiti calling him a rapist. One hot day in October, after seeing Brodeur’s uneasy reaction to a passing pregnant woman, Regina asks to speak with him. Eventually making their way to his office on an upper floor, where the...