"Living Quarters" is the story of a charmingly psychotic woman in the deranged late 20th century. It's told in language that shimmers. It's a story that emerges from plots that explore human longing, suffering and pleasure among the civilized on three continents as though seeking a statement about a condition beyond articulation….

If I understand "Living Quarters" correctly, it suggests, while offering champagne-and-acid entertainment, that the present environment requires a streak of madness if you want to live in it at all. Deception, betrayal, exploitation, faithlessness are bred into us by our surroundings, along with our drinking habits and a drive to be made whole through the uses of the flesh. We need not wonder why Daisianna gets off scot-free. Vincent Canby's society cultivates all kinds of nuts.

Meanwhile, despite his confirmation of what tolerant people have been thinking for some time, Canby gives us art, so that...