Looking for Mr. Goodbar to these events, which the book details, Theresa is a child suffering from ugly duckling syndrome, followed by an ordeal as an adult in college in which she is engaged in a committed relationship with a married man who is using her as a companion. The relationship ends, and Theresa experiences a bevy of sexual encounters that are fleeting and pathological. By 1973, having published three novels, Judith Rossner was a writer of "impeccable literary credentials." Invited by Nora Ephron to contribute to a special women's issue of "Esquire" magazine, Rossner wrote an article about a real-life murder that had
Mr. Wrong unfunny" from the point when after Martha dumps Whitman after seeing his true persona and he then begins stalking her and literally destroys her personal and professional life while continuing to fool everyone around her with his good-guy charade. Rita Kempley, writing for "The Washington Post", assessed the film a "sour, listless debunking of romantic comedies, ... [with] fewer laughs than "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"" and laments that "Ellen DeGeneres, a comedian and sitcom star in her film debut, [who] is ostensibly the protagonist here" does not control the action, but her character "merely reacts to [Whitman's] twists and turn-ons".