Dorothy L'Amour

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish chemist, once wrote, “No one reads
essays, except those about actors and murderers.” Toronto poet Lynn
Crosbie seems to share his opinion, publishing books about serial killer
Paul Bernardo (Paul’s Case) and Playboy “Playmate”/aspiring
actress Dorothy Stratten. After Stratten was murdered in 1980 by Paul
Snider, her estranged husband and ex-pimp, journalists and film
producers documented her life. Crosbie does not duplicate their efforts.
Instead, she writes Dorothy L’Amour, a fictional memoir, with
commentary on her era.

Crosbie’s Dorothy is no simple sex object, but a soulful poet who
balances naiveté with “edge.” Her blunders are amusing; when she
first meets Paul, she tells her friend Connie that “He is a very
stylish rabbinical student.” Snider was Jewish, but the resemblance
ends there. On the other hand, when she is picked up by a potential
rapist, she cleverly finds his switchblade and uses it to force him to
drive her home.

This Canadian author knows “Hollywood North.” For example, Crosbie
has Dorothy seeing Robert Goulet’s interview with Gene Taylor, a
Toronto TV personality. Also in the story is Crosbie’s description of
the CBS-TV telefilm She Cried Murder, which was filmed in Toronto. Older
Canadians might view such expertise as “trivial” or “culturally
colonial,” but they are not her target audience.

Unfortunately, not all of Crosbie’s prose is perceptive or clever.
Some of the later sections are inert or meaningless. The chapter in
which TV star Herve Villechaise shoots himself in the head, during her
guest appearance on Fantasy Island, is a sorry example of the latter.
Although Dorothy L’Amour has the insightful wit that made Paul’s
Case an effective work, it is a disappointing follow-up.