Touched 4581725 206871585 2008-04-20T12:15:34Z JzG 760284 cleaning up after move war using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{otheruses}} {{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = Touched | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[Image:Touched.jpg|200px|''Touched'' book cover]] | author = Scott Campbell | cover_artist = | country = [[United States]] | language = [[English language|English]] | series = | genre = [[Novel]] | publisher = [[Random House|Bantam Dell]] | release_date = May 1996 | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]]) | pages = 313 pp (first edition, paperback) | isbn = ISBN 0-553-09996-5 (first edition, paperback) | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''Touched''''' is the first [[novel]] by Scott Campbell; it was published in [[1996]]. ''Touched'' is a story about the [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse]] of Robbie, a twelve-year-old boy and raises issues about the motivation and behaviour of [[pedophilia|paedophiles]]. The book uses multiple narratives, each of the four sections being narrated by a key person in the story - the boy's mother, the boy himself, the man who [[child sexual abuse|molested]] the boy, and the wife of the child molester. ==Plot introduction== The child molester himself, Jerry Houseman, is presented with as much complexity as the other main characters. He had tried to eradicate his urges through extensive [[psychotherapy]], but ultimately failed: <blockquote> ''"There’s something about a boy, some boys, when they reach the edge of [[puberty]]... that touches me in some way, some really deep-seated way. I don’t understand it. I’ve never understood it. But it fills me with desire..."'' </blockquote> ==Plot summary== Houseman is portrayed in a relatively sympathetic light. He is a married man with three daughters, aged 16, 10, and 8 none of whom he molests. He is only interested in boys. He is not a monster but someone who genuinely believes that he is in love with a child and doesn't understand why the rest of the world can't accept that the child loves him back. He abuses several boys, his first victim being a 10-year-old [[Filipino people|Filipino]]. He submits his victims to [[anal sex|anal]] and [[oral sex]]. In some ways, Robbie appears not to be deeply hurt by the abuse itself, though the police investigation, the court experience and the reaction of his family all hurt him deeply. On the other hand, the experience has clearly had a [[Psychological trauma|trauma]]tic effect on him; his ability to form normal physical relationships is adversely affected. ==See also== *[[Pedophilia]] *[[List of books portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors]] *[[Child sexual abuse]] [[Category:1996 novels]] [[Category:American novels]]