Looking for Mr. Goodbar is a novel by American writer Judith Rossner. Published in 1975, the book—a "stunning psychological study of a woman's passive complicity in her own death" —won critical acclaim and was a #1 New York Times best seller. Plot summary Theresa "Terry" Dunn, a young woman living in New York City, leads a double life: by day she is a devoted schoolteacher, but by night she cruises singles bars. Eventually, just as she is trying to make a new start, Terry is murdered by a young drifter that she has just met and invited home. Prior to these events, which the book details, Theresa is a child suffering from ugly-duckling syndrome, followed by an ordeal as an adult in college in which she is engaged in a committed relationship with a married man who is using her as a companion. The relationship ends, and Theresa then seeks out a series of sexual encounters that are both fleeting and pathological. Background By 1973, having published three novels, Judith Rossner was a writer of "impeccable literary credentials." Invited by Nora Ephron to contribute to a special women's issue of Esquire magazine, Rossner wrote an article about a real-life murder that had sparked her interest, that of schoolteacher Roseann Quinn, who had been brutally slain in January 1973 by a man that she had purportedly picked up in a singles bar. In the end, Esquire, fearing legal ramifications, decided not to publish the article, so Rossner decided to write a novel instead. Reception Looking for Mr. Goodbar was published by Simon & Schuster on June 2, 1975, to positive reviews. Carol Eisen Rinzler, in The New York Times, said the book was "a complex and chilling portrait of a woman's descent into hell... full of insight and intelligence and illumination." Time magazine wrote, "it is a rare kind of book: both a compelling 'page turner' and a superior roman à clef." Newsweek found the book to be a "hard, fast, frightening read." Looking for Mr. Goodbar was also a commercial blockbuster: on June 22, 1975, it entered the New York Times best seller list, and would remain there for 36 weeks, three of those weeks at #1. It sold over 4 million copies, becoming the fourth highest-selling novel of the year. Adaptations Paramount Pictures purchased film rights to the novel for $250,000. The film, written and directed by Richard Brooks,