Kosinski's novels consist of many … episodes, self-enclosed stories that reflect two of the novel's most traditional interests, the telling of interesting tales and the description of how something is done. His stories of psychological manipulation strike, unfortunately, a responsive chord in us all, just as his descriptions of how to make and use the hardware of our culture is closer to us than, say, a description of how to catch and cook a whale.
But rather than Moby Dick, Cockpit will remind the reader of The Confidence Man, Melville's unfinished story of a man of many disguises who manipulates people for complicated reasons. (pp. 356-57)
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