What Gives?

George Levanter never hesitates before accepting a "blind date." As the hero of Jerzy Kosinski's latest novel, Blind Date, he would violate the author's entire notion of how life should be lived if he were to do so.

The "blind date," originally a slang phrase for a rape technique Levanter learns as an adolescent, soon becomes a metaphor Kosinski uses to describe people's willingness to embark on the dramatic, unpredictable incidents with which he feels they should fill their lives.

Levanter fills his life with such incidents, and, as the metaphor develops, his curious, slightly unrealistic lifestyle becomes comprehensible, if not quite admirable.

Levanter's life of "blind dates" brings him into contact with a Russian actress, famous scientists, business tycoons, and small-town nymphomaniacs, each of whom occupies as fleeting a part in the novel as they do in Levanter's life.

Denying the possibility of a plot, Kosinski relies on this smorgasbord of exciting incidents and fascinating characters to retain the reader's interest, unfortunately, only a few of Kosinski's characters are on stage long enough to develop into interesting individuals. The rest become props for the protagonist to use and discard.