Ãœbermensch Essays

“The shrink’s office was in Manhattan. The locks were a joke. I went back there one day and pulled my file. It made interesting reading. PTSD, fundamental lack of empathy, blunted affect, addicted risk taker.” This is the description of the protagonist in the short story “Hostage” by Andrew Vachss. And this description of Walker, the protagonist, by a department shrink (psychologist or psychiatrist) fits very well. Throughout this short story we get more and more evidence that Walker is indeed a