Real Game

A HOUSE ON THE SOUND by Kathrin Perutz. 213 pages. Coward-McCann. $3.95.

Her enlightened, exurban parents handed down only one sexual prohibition: Thou Shalt Not Tease. And to Nickie Hornbury, violation of it is unthinkable—as is any subject other than sex. Even when she rode the subway to Barnard College, her favorite game was to contemplate, in case the car was stranded, which passenger would be coupled with whom. By the time Nickie is 20, the game can be played for real: dinners at the Hornburys’ waterside estate on Long Island are followed almost automatically by a skinny dip in the Sound. Unfortunately, at 25, Kathrin Perutz’ ultra-sophistication and perception seem to come only in hot flashes. The characters, though in a suitably advanced state of corrosion, are not corrosive enough; their dialogue is too much thrust, too little cut.