"In this mordant allegory about deluded obsession, Joyce Carol Oates has transformed the earth goddess Cybele into a goddess of degenerative possession. Edwin Locke, a charming forty-year-old who has never quite found himself, falls easily into his first extramarital affair. When the novelty wanes he seeks to revive his passion with others, submerging himself in a series of increasingly grotesque liaisons"--Cover.