Moravia is justly famous--his cool clarity of expression, his ex acting attention to psychological complexity and social pretension, his still-striki ng openness about sex--are evident in this story of a failing marriage. Contempt (wh ich was to inspire Jean-Luc Godard's no-less-celebrated film) is an unflinching exam ination of desperation and self-deception in the emotional vacuum of modern consumer society. Molteni, the narrator, aspires to be a man of letters, but has taken a job as a screenwriter in order to support his beautiful wife, Emilia. Frustrated by his work, he becomes convinced that she no longer loves him--that in fact she despises him--and a s he relentlessly interrogates her about the true nature of her feelings, he makes h is deepest fear (or secret desire) come true.

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