Single White Female [Paperback]

John Lutz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1992

Desperate to find a new roomate after she throws her no-good boyfriend out, Allie Jones lets shy, unimposing Hedra move in, but she soon discovers that there is something horribly wrong with her new flatmate. Reprint. Movie tie-in.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

John Lutz's tense novel, SWF Seeks Same, recently appeared as a tense movie thriller, Single White Female. Allie Jones gets an obsessive female roommate who adopts her lifestyle, identity, even her boyfriend, and then then tries to kill her. While the abridgment of Lutz's story works well here, Fairchild's reading is nasally and flavorless. Passion and paranoia are absent. The perfunctory reading misses much of the drama. Still, because of the engrossing story, the tape makes for a good listen. The sound is clear with some atmospheric musical intro and exit clues. M.J.C. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; Mti edition (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067174500X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671745004
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a simple yet effective psychological thriller.., June 4, 2005

By 

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Single White Female (Paperback)

Firstly, I have not seen the film adaptation of 'Single White Female' and so this review isn't tainted one way or the other. This book, about the stolen identity of a young woman by her psychotic flatmate, is written is very easy style. Characterizations, prose, and dialogue are all straightforward. I can understand why a film was made based on it since the book reads more like a screenplay than a novel. And the book's "feel" is anything but original. 'Sliver' by Ira Levin does a better job of capturing the essence of life (and danger) in Manhattan for a single, white female. Still, 'Single White Female' is an entertaining read.

Bottom line: a very enjoyable, suspenseful read that doesn't tax the brain. Recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE BOOK, THE MOVIE, THE WRITER, THE READER, August 19, 2001

By 

Gypsychick "gypsychick" (miami, fl USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Single White Female (Audio Cassette)

After reading the review of this audiotape from Audiofile, I was disappointed I had purchased the cassette set - even used, thinking it would be a huge dud. I am not generally a Morgan Fairchild follower anyway, so I was doubtful. I went ahead and gave it a listen. No doubt readers at familiar with the big screen version of the book "Single White Female" which appears endlessly on cable stations and was quite good the first two or three times it played. The film followed the basic plotline of the novel but the two versions part company at approximately mid point and I found the audiobook thoroughly engrossing. Writer Lutz and reader Fairchild play Allie Jones as a much tougher, more aggressive woman and so the resulting weakening and final deterioration as her life is taken over by her strange flatmate is much more dramatic and horrifying. More than the film, the book has a Hitchockian texture to it as the body count (and the question as to Allie's guilt or innocence in those murders) is more intense. The basic differences I feel I can reveal without ruining this version for potential readers concern the detailed framing and subsequent arrest of Allie as well as greater involvement in the story of Graham the neighbor who hears more than he should while putting an ear to the duct work in the apartment above the SWFs. The last quarter of the book is a well-paced and exciting side story excluded from the film. It's just a thriller, and a "beach read" at that but listening while driving home one night, I got plenty of goosebumps. And so will anyone else who ever had to live with a roommate they thought was hell.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Single White Female, November 2, 2009

By 

Victoria Weber "FonzieFan" (HMB Ca,) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Single White Female (Paperback)

When I first saw the reviews on this book, I almost didn't buy it. However, I am glad I did because what the negative reviewers seemed to overlook is that it is a novel, not a book based on the movie. I read it disconnected from the movie and enjoyed it very much. Thank you. Victoria.