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
Judith Rossner the true story of Roseann Quinn, a 28-year-old schoolteacher who had been brutally murdered in January 1973 by a man she had reportedly picked up in a singles bar. Rossner wrote an article about Quinn, but "Esquire" declined to publish it, fearing legal ramifications. Rossner, who considered herself a "lousy journalist," decided to write the story as a novel. On June 2, 1975, Simon & Schuster published "Looking for Mr. Goodbar", the graphic story of Theresa Dunn, a damaged young woman who teaches children by day and cruises singles bars by night. After picking up a man at Mr. Goodbar,