DRIVEN

by Richard Gehman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 1954

The ex post facto confessional of George Carpenter fills in the background to the crime which led to his escape from a well established life as a banker, husband, and father of two children in Buchanan, Pennsylvania, and ends with his conviction, atonement and greater self-understanding after the diagnosis that he is a maniac- depressive. His fitful brooding is aggravated by liquor- and his many debts- and following the death of Foose, the head of the bank, his resentment of the dead man's successor is fulfilled in his decision to rob the bank, fortuitously accomplished. With several hundred thousand in cash- in a suitcase- he reaches New York where he shacks up with Lyddy (she is really gone) and then moves west. Still in the limbo of liquor, and thrashed by guilt, he finds Pat- who offers him a love which is complete and undemanding; they go south -- and finally the law curtails their time together. A rather lenient sentence returns him to his wife and contrition precedes the reconciliation undertaken in a more manic moment of hope for his future.... Some sexy scenes and an untrammeled vernacular will speed this on its way- and the professional mumbojumbo is only a Freudulent pretext or presumption.

Pub Date: April 2, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: David McKay

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION