A Kiss Before Dying (1953) by Ira Levin About the book: Bud Corliss is a young man with a ruthless drive to rise above his workingclass origins to a life of wealth and importance. He serves in the Pacific in World War II, and upon his honourable discharge in 1947 he learns that his father was killed in an automobile accident while he was overseas. The most pivotal moment in his life occurs during the war, when he first wounds, then kills, a Japanese sniper, who is so terrified that he wets his pants and begs for mercy. Corliss is elated by the total power he holds over the soldier; at the same time, he is disgusted by the man's display of abject terror. Upon returning to the U.S., he enrols in college and meets Dorothy Kingship, the daughter of a wealthy copper tycoon. Seeing an opportunity to attain the riches he has always craved, he becomes Dorothy's lover. When she tells him she is pregnant, however, he panics; he is sure that her stern, conservative father will disinherit her. Resolving to get rid of Dorothy, he tricks her into writing a letter that, to an unknowing observer, would look like a suicide note, and then throws her from the roof of a tall building. He runs no risk of getting caught, having urged Dorothy to keep their relationship a secret from her family and friends. He continues to live with his mother, who dotes on him and has no clue as to what he has done. Corliss lies low for a few months until the press coverage of Dorothy's death has subsided. Then he pursues Dorothy's sister, Ellen. The romance is going according to plan until Ellen begins to probe into Dorothy's death, convinced her sister did not kill herself. Eventually, Ellen uncovers the truth about Corliss and confronts him. Corliss nonchalantly confesses to the crime and kills Ellen as well. Unfazed by this setback, Corliss courts the last remaining Kingship daughter, Marion. This affair is the most successful; Corliss sweeps her off her feet and charms her father, and soon he and Marion are engaged. Local college DJ Gordon Gant, who met Ellen during her investigation of Dorothy's death, begins investigating the case, and is immediately suspicious of Corliss. He breaks into Corliss' childhood home and steals a written plan for meeting and seducing Marion to get her family's money, as well as news clippings about Dorothy's and Ellen's deaths. Days before the wedding, he shows up at the Kingship family home and presents Marion and her father with the evidence of Corliss' deception. On a trip to one of the Kingship family's copper manufacturing plants, Marion, her father and Gant all corner Corliss while he is standing over a vat of molten copper and threaten to expose him. Corliss frantically pleads his innocence, but his accusers are unmoved. Realizing his luck has finally run out, Bud Corliss panics and wets his pants – just as the Japanese soldier, his symbol of pathetic cowardice, had done. Delirious with fear and shame, Bud Corliss stumbles and falls to his death into the vat below.
About the author Ira Levin decided on a career of a writer at the age of 15. Educated at the elite Horace Mann school, he went on to two years at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, before transferring to New York University, where he majored in philosophy and English. He earned his degree in 1950. In 1953 he was drafted into the army. Based in Queens, New York, he wrote and produced training films for Uncle Sam before moving into television, penning scripts for such anthology series as Lights Out (1946) and The United States Steel Hour (1953). He made a bright theatre debut at the age of 25 with an adaptation of Mac Hyman's "No Time for Sergeants" (1955). He went on to write several plays, including the longest-running Broadway mystery to date, "Deathtrap" (1978), and several popular novels.
Other interesting information: Listen to the audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3C_gOSfydU Obituary https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/nov/15/guardianobituaries.bookso bituaries Review: http://www.existentialennui.com/2014/05/a-kiss-before-dying-by-iranlevin.html
Topics for Discussion: How did you experience the book? How did you feel reading it— amused, sad, disturbed, confused, bored...? Describe the main characters—personality traits, motivations, and inner qualities. Why do characters do what they do? Are their actions justified? Discuss the plot: Is it engaging—do you find the story interesting? Did you find the plot predictable, even formulaic? Talk about the book's structure.
Is the ending satisfying? If so, why? If not, why not...and how would you change it?