A Paddy Chayefsky Valentine (Part 1 of 3)

Emily and Eddie:
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At 2 a.m., the manager of the coffee shop threw them out, and they went to Emily’s place, a three-room flat on the third floor of a brownstone on 105th and Riverside Drive which she shared with another postgraduate student. They went into Emily’s room, closed the door, and instantly ravened each other. It was an explosive experience for Emily. He went at her with the fervor of a flagellant, bucking into her with a coarse, almost fanatical zeal, which somehow seemed directed away from her. She had expected the fumblings of an inhibited scholar and instead found herself harpooned by a raging monk. She looked up at him in the middle and saw his white, ascetic face above her, eyes wide open, as if he were receiving God.

In a quiet moment between, in the dark room, resting among the rumpled sheets, she sitting up against the headboard, he sprawled belly-down across the bed, she studied his shadowed face. Even without his glasses, even with his eyes closed, almost asleep in post-coital repose, he seemed driven from within by some arctic passion. Rosenberg had told her he was a terrifically bright guy; she wondered if perhaps she wasn’t looking at a shadow of genius.

“What do you think about when we’re making love?” she asked him.

“God, Jesus, crucifixions.”

“Well, as long as it isn’t another woman,” she said.

Paddy Chayefsky
“Altered States” — The Novel


“Altered States” — The Film

“Altered States” — The Wiki Page


Paddy Chayefsky — Wiki Page