Yellowing on book jacket and pages due to age Macmillan Company, 1967 book club edition, 288 pages When Charles Jackson wrote The Lost Weekend in 1944, he created both a definitive portrait of an alcoholic and an enduring best seller. Now, in A Second-Hand Life, he has etched a woman just as real, as driven and as unforgettable as the hapless Don Birnam. Her name is Winifred Grainger, a woman with a powerful, excessive attraction to the male. Her reputation in the upper New York State town where her father is the leading banker is an open scandal. In fact, no knowing young man in Arcadia would think of inviting her to the country club dance, though he might later on invite her into the backseat of his car to enjoy fifteen minutes of her time. Unlike most women, she has no sense of self-preservation. She worships the male to the point of homage, taking the initiative, giving all, expecting nothing in return. And yet, despite her ob-session, she is the very soul of honor. She lives through a series of sexual encounters that may shock some readers-men in particular. Women, the honest ones, will understand, perhaps all too well. Once, only once, Winifred falls in love. After it is over, she gallantly picks up the pieces of her life and resumes the too-familiar ways, dreading the future and all too aware of the past.