In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

19 The Driver A dream that might explain why my lovers are sometimes women and sometimes men. But the dream doesn’t care about the dreamer or what she feels a need to explain. I read a story about a man who fell in love with a mannequin, bought her out of the store window, took her home and made love to her, spent quiet evenings communing with her, expressing his thoughts, noting her responses. All was bliss for the man and mannequin until he began to suspect that the chauffeur was having an affair with his Helen. Because he could not endure the thought of her with another man, he killed her.That was end of the story. But the dream has other plans. Helen, the mannequin, has a good life.The man does all the cooking, makes her drinks, dresses her expensively, tucks her lovingly into bed. Still, something is missing. She doesn’t know what it is about the chauffeur, but in his presence, her painted skin begins to itch, she feels the prelude to a sneeze behind her cheekbones, her elbows start to crack, the arches of her feet relax. She feels heat, not from the man beside her, but her own. She sends the chauffeur to warm up the car, then meets him at the door. “Move over,” she says into his open window, “I’m driving.” ...

Share