Russell Raymond Trainer (25 December 1921 – 12 December 1992) was an American author and novelist who wrote The Lolita Complex, a seminal book which contributed to the development of manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 and anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Biography

None of his publishers is known to have ever supplied a biography, but Russell Trainer's family states that he was born in Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 and enrolled in law school

Law school

A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

 at the University of Detroit

University of Detroit Mercy

University of Detroit Mercy is a private, Roman Catholic co-educational university in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with the Society of Jesus and the Sisters of Mercy. Antoine M. Garibaldi is the president. With origins dating from 1877, it is the largest Roman Catholic university...

. He served in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 in the infantry during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and was awarded a Bronze Star

Bronze Star Medal

The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...

. In 1946, he was the unsuccessful Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 candidate for the first district seat in the Michigan State Senate

Michigan Senate

The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....

. He was skilled at gaining people's confidence, and his career consisted of a variety of opportunistic enterprises, living mostly on ill-gotten gains, culminating with his arrest in Coldwater, Michigan

Coldwater, Michigan

Coldwater is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County....

, in 1959, where he attempted to cash a bad check

Non-sufficient funds

Non-sufficient funds is a term used in the banking industry to indicate that a demand for payment cannot be honored because insufficient funds are available in the account on which the instrument was drawn. In simplified terms, a cheque has been presented for clearance, but the amount written on...

. There were warrants for his arrest in several states. Trainer served 18 months in the Jackson State Penitentiary in Jackson, Michigan

Jackson, Michigan

Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...

 where he wrote his first novel, The Warden's Wife, which was published for the adult paper-back market shortly after his release.

He remained in Detroit, and wrote The Lolita Complex, and a number of novels, most of them published by Midwood, as a part of a series of softcore paperbacks for the adult market. He also sold a number of children's stories and articles, under various pseudonyms.

Trainer was married twice, and the father of six children. He settled in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in 1966, and established his own publishing house, marketing books following his own writing genre, and died in Stockton, California

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

, in 1992.

Literary importance

Trainer's importance stems from his publication in 1965, of his most famous work, The Lolita Complex, which had the appearance of a serious psychological

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

 work, with an extensive bibliography of legitimate authorities, who were liberally quoted and referenced from their work. Trainer, however, had no credentials at all as a psychologist

Psychologist

Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

, and many authorities saw the work as a sham and the author as a charlatan. The title is a reference to Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...

's book, Lolita

Lolita

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...

, in which a middle-aged man becomes sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl. When Trainer's book was translated into Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

, it triggered a movement known as lolicon

Lolicon

, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...

, the Japanese form of the title of the translated book.

Influence

Lolicon is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to young girls, or an individual with such an attraction. Outside Japan, the term is less common and most often refers to a genre of manga and anime wherein childlike female characters are depicted in an erotic manner.

Since 2007, there has been increasing concern in Japan with the "Lolita Complex Boom", with young girls being uses as sex icons. The term "Lolita Complex" has been adopted by a Japanese electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 musical group

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

.

Publications

• Jail Bait (Sydney, N.S.W.: Magazine Services, ?. .)
• The Warden's Wife (1962)
• Lonesome Widow (1963)
• No Way Back (1963)
• Love Starved (1964)
• His Daughter's Friend (1964)
• Trouble Maker (1965)
• The Lolita Complex (New York: Citadel Press, 1966. . )
• Virgin Myth (1967)
• Jealous Lover (1967)
• Sex & Love Among the Poor (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968. .)
• Sex, Jealousy and Conflict (North Hollywood, Calif.: Brandon House, 1968. .)
• Sex Substitute (North Hollywood, Calif.: Brandon House, 1968. .)
• The Violence of Adultery (Chatsworth, Calif.: Brandon Books, 1968. .)
• The Male Lolita (New York: Macfadden-Bartell Corp., 1969. .)
• The Male Homosexual Today (New York: Macfadden-Bartell Corp., 1970. .)
• The Deviate Generation (New York: Macfadden-Bartell Corp., 1972. .)