Written with the raw honesty and poignant insight that were the hallmarks of her acclaimed bestseller A Widow’s Story, an affecting and observant memoir of growing up from one of our finest and most beloved literary masters
The Lost Landscape is Joyce Carol Oates’ vivid chronicle of her hardscrabble childhood in rural western New York State. From memories of her relatives, to those of a charming bond with a special red hen on her family farm; from her first friendships to her earliest experiences with death, The Lost Landscape is a powerful evocation of the romance of childhood, and its indelible influence on the woman and the writer she would become.
In this exceptionally candid, moving, and richly reflective account, Oates explores the world through the eyes of her younger self, an imaginative girl eager to tell stories about the world and the people she meets. While reading Alice in Wonderland changed a young Joyce forever and inspired her to view life as a series of endless adventures, growing up on a farm taught her harsh lessons about sacrifice, hard work, and loss. With searing detail and an acutely perceptive eye, Oates renders her memories and emotions with exquisite precision, transporting us to a forgotten place and time—the lost landscape of her youth, reminding us of the forgotten landscapes of our own earliest lives. Views: 777
Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most prominent writers of her generation, and she is fearless when exploring the most disturbing corners of human nature. In Evil Eye, Oates offers four chilling tales of love gone horribly wrong, showing the lengths people will go to find love, keep it, and sometimes end it.
In "Evil Eye," we meet Mariana, the young 4th wife of a prominent intellectual. When her husband's brazen first wife visits one night, Mariana learns a terrible secret that threatens her marriage and sanity. In "So Near, Anytime, Always," shy teenager Lizbeth meets Desmond, a charming boy who offers this introverted girl the first sparks of young romance. Yet just as their relationship begins to blossom, Lizbeth realizes that beneath Desmond's perfect façade lies a dark soul that could wreak havoc on Lizbeth and her loved ones. In "The Execution," spoiled college student Bart Hansen has planned the perfect, brutal crime to get back at his parents for their years of condescension. Yet what he didn't plan for is a mother whose love is more resilent than he could have ever imagined, who threatens to derail his carefully laid-out plans. Views: 766
This “mesmerizing” novel about a crime at an elite music school “*calls to mind a David Lynch film” (TheNew York Times).
Shy piano teacher Maggie Blackburn has selflessly devoted her life and career to her students at the Forest Park Conservatory of Music in an affluent Connecticut suburb. Then a rape shakes the school’s refined grounds. The violated young student, Brendan Bauer, is a timid ex-seminarian. The perpetrator, Rolfe Christensen, is the newly appointed and celebrated composer-in-residence who has dazzled the faculty in ways Maggie could never have dreamed of. But when the conservatory’s conspiracy to conceal the crime results in Christensen’s murder, Bauer is suspected—and Maggie vows to find the real killer.
What Maggie soon discovers is that Christensen’s reputation—as genius, manipulator, and sexual predator—had preceded him, giving many people a reason to want him dead. But when the murder of another colleague casts additional doubt on Bauer’s innocence, Maggie’s labyrinthine hunt for a killer turns into more than an investigation. Now it’s a liberating obsession with secrets—hers included—as dark and twisted as the crimes themselves.
One of today’s most prolific and acclaimed literary talents, Joyce Carol Oates is a National Book Award winner, a four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and a #1 New York Times*–bestselling author. As Elmore Leonard said, with her psychological suspense novels written under the name Rosamond Smith, “[she] could become the world’s Number One mystery writer easily.”
Views: 761
Benny Dugan came to live in the shadow of his underworld boss, Red DelGatti. His introverted brother Marion took another direction in life. In this somewhat dark comedy, tragedy strikes affecting all of them, but in different ways. The two brothers had no idea how their actions would intersect and send them running from the cops, as well as DelGatti, in order to salvage Benny's grand plan.Rather than party at his friend's house for the end of the world, Jared elects to spend his last day before the zombie apocalypse in the office in the hopes that he can get to know pretty Sheila. When the zombie's do arrive, neither he, Sheila, or their boss are ready. Views: 741
A riveting novel that explores the high price of success in the life of one woman—the first female president of a lauded ivy league institution—and her hold upon her self-identity in the face of personal and professional demons, from Joyce Carol Oates, author of the New York Times bestseller A Widow’s Story
Mudgirl is a child abandoned by her mother in the silty flats of the Black Snake River. Cast aside, Mudgirl survives by an accident of fate—or destiny. After her rescue, the well-meaning couple who adopt Mudgirl quarantine her poisonous history behind the barrier of their middle-class values, seemingly sealing it off forever. But the bulwark of the present proves surprisingly vulnerable to the agents of the past.
Meredith “M.R.” Neukirchen is the first woman president of an Ivy League university. Her commitment to her career and moral fervor for her role are all-consuming. Involved with a secret lover whose feelings for her are teasingly undefined, and concerned with the intensifying crisis of the American political climate as the United States edges toward war with Iraq, M.R. is confronted with challenges to her leadership that test her in ways she could not have anticipated. The fierce idealism and intelligence that delivered her from a more conventional life in her upstate New York hometown now threaten to undo her.
A reckless trip upstate thrusts M.R. Neukirchen into an unexpected psychic collision with Mudgirl and the life M.R. believes she has left behind. A powerful exploration of the enduring claims of the past, Mudwoman is at once a psychic ghost story and an intimate portrait of a woman cracking the glass ceiling at enormous personal cost, which explores the tension between childhood and adulthood, the real and the imagined, and the “public” and “private” in the life of a highly complex contemporary woman. Views: 736
From a master "mind reader who writes psychological horror stories about seriously disturbed minds" (New York Times Book Review), this gorgeously eerie story collection explores the deepest entwinings of lust and repulsion, creation and dissolution, Eros and Thanatos Views: 720
Karyn Littleton can't decide if she's in a dream or woken up in a public bar while wearing her comfy footie pajamas. Through the course of the short evening she meets and interacts with various characters in the Bar None, the name of the drinking establishment she's in. Will she accept her hosts explanations about what is going on or will she reject his simple message? Only Karyn knows for sure.The world of the dream around Karyn seems more solid than the real world she left behind. That is, until she gets a good look at the characters around her. A drunk shape-shifting chronomancer, a bartender whose form shifts depending on who he's talking to, a waitress with four arms and green plant-like skin, an angel playing chess with a woman in a wheelchair, a maître d' who can't speak and writes everything on a small chalkboard, and a host whose face won't come into focus no matter how hard Karyn stares at it. It's no wonder she hasn't yet realized she's out in public in her comfy footie pajamas. Views: 704
In Mysteries of Winterthurn, the brilliant young detective-hero Xavier Kilgarvan is confronted with three baffling cases—"The Virgin in the Rose-Bower," "The Devil's Half-Acre," and "The Blood-Stained Gown"—that tax his genius for detection to the utmost, just as his forbidden passion for his cousin Perdita becomes an obsession that shapes his life. Views: 696
Joyce Carol Oates is not only one of our most important novelists and literary critics, she is also an unparalleled master of the short story. "Sourland"--sixteen previously uncollected stories that explore the power of violence, loss, and grief to shape the psyche as well as the soul--shows us an author working at the height of her powers.
With lapidary precision and an unflinching eye, Oates maps the surprising contours of "ordinary" life, from a desperate man who dons a jack-o'-lantern head as a prelude to a most curious sort of courtship to a beguiling young woman librarian whose amputee state attracts a married man and father; from a girl hopelessly in love with her renegade, incarcerated cousin to the concluding title story of an unexpectedly redemptive love rooted in radical aloneness and isolation. Each story in "Sourland" resonates beautifully with Oates's trademark fascination for the unpredictable amid the prosaic--the commingling of sexual love and violence, the tumult of family life--and shines with her predilection for dark humor and her gift for voice. Views: 688
This volume offers a survey of American short fiction in 59 tales that combine classic works with 'different, unexpected gems', which invite readers to explore a wealth of important pieces by women and minority writers. Authors include: Amy Tan, Alice Adams, David Leavitt and Tim O'Brien. Views: 680
Unavailable for 40 years, this seminal novel of madness and murder is acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates' powerful trip into the mind of a maniac.Abandoned as a baby in a bus station locker, shuttled from one abusive foster home and detention center to another, Bobbie Gotteson grew up angry, hurting, damaged. His hunger to succeed as a musician brought him across the country to Hollywood, but along with it came his seething rage, his paranoid delusions, and his capacity for acts of shocking violence.Unavailable for 40 years, The Triumph of the Spider Monkey is an eloquent, terrifying, heartbreaking exploration of madness by one of the most acclaimed authors of the past century. This definitive edition for the first time pairs the original novel with a never-before-collected companion novella by Joyce Carol Oates, unseen since its sole publication in a literary journal nearly half a century ago, which examines the impact of Gotteson's killing spree on a... Views: 674
"Birth of The Lady FBI" The day was a beautiful day. Today, the ‘hiking group’ girls were planning to go swimming at Jefferson Pool. Jefferson pool is a beautiful natural pool. One with a cave like grotto surrounding it. As they started to cross over the small wooden bridge. A man came running from the direction of the grotto.Local paper Next morning: BODY DISCOVERED AT JEFFERSON POOL YikesPREVIEW of "Birth of The Lady FBI"The day couldn’t have been more beautiful. The sun was out and there was a gentle breeze blowing. The temperature was going to be in the eighties, but with the breeze it would be perfect for hiking.Anyway, today, the ‘hiking group’ girls were planning to go swimming at Jefferson Pool. Jefferson pool is a beautiful natural pool. One with a cave like grotto surrounding it. It looks like something you might see on the island of Maui where they have those weddings for the tourists.They were all laughing and cutting up when they stepped on and started to cross over the small wooden bridge. Suddenly, a man came running from the direction of the grotto. He nearly knocked them down as he pushed his way past them.Yes, it had been like having a private beach because they had had the pool area to themselves all morning and into the early afternoon. The local paper – Next morning…BODY DISCOVERED IN GROTTO AT JEFFERSON POOLSarah calls the other girls together to discuss the events at the grotto.As they reviewed their day at Jefferson Pool, Olivia and Sarah, almost in unison said, “God, are we stupid or what?”“Just how dumb can we be?” It was like a light going off in both of their heads at the same time…This is getting a little SCARY…The Author, Shirley Quinlan, is like Angela Lansbury of "Murder She Wrote" fame… Views: 668
the story of two miss match fairies, ones a trainer of new ruff a round the edge fairies wannabes and the other a new t-fairy in training going out for the first time, you see she's supper charged about this night & getting her first tooth and hoping she'll pass this test.Some people struggle with their emotions. They manifest in some raw and powerful ways. I write to deal with mine. From losing a family member and feeling at your lowest to meeting people that make you happy, it is all a step on this road to seeing what sort of person we will be come in the end. You might not agree with me; life is an open book after all, but to those that can relate. Just keep moving forward, things will get better and you will become better as a result. Views: 661
Three short stories and two poems written from the Aesthetic life. The book follows a narrator ending his relationship and starting a new one still in the shadow of life defined by externality. Poetic and philosophical, Short Stories from Aesthetic Life illuminates life experienced through the beauty of art and literature.This is the story of Mia and Eve. When her ailing Aunts can not make it to market, their loyal and beloved cat Mia agrees to go in their place. Much to her annoyance the Aunts make her newly adopted little sister Eve tag along. The trip to the market is long and dangerous and along the way they will find themselves in some very tight situations, and meet some new friends...and enemies. When the two are seperated at market and Eve stumbles upon a very mean man intent on never letting her go home it will take Mia's determination, and a host of animal friends to help rescue Eve from a very mean villain. A tale of family, true friendship and courage. Views: 615
Seven “masterfully told” stories of suspense and nightmarish drama from the National Book Award–winning author of Them (The Guardian).
With the novella and six stories collected here, Joyce Carol Oates reaffirms her singular reputation for portraying the dark complexities of the human psyche. The title novella tells the story of Marissa, an eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. When she suddenly disappears, mounting evidence points to a local substitute teacher. Meanwhile, an older girl from Melissa’s school is giddy with her power to cause so much havoc unnoticed. And she intends to use that power to enact a terrifying ritual called The Corn Maiden.
In “Helping Hands,” published here for the first time, a widow meets an Iraq War veteran in a dingy charity shop, having no idea where the peculiar encounter is about to lead. In “Fossil-Figures,” a pair of twins—an artist and a congressman—never outgrow an ugly sibling rivalry. And in “A Hole in the Head,” a plastic surgeon gives in to an unusual and dangerous request.
Together, these seven tales offer “a virtuoso performance” of “probing, unsettling, intelligent” storytelling from one of the world’s greatest writers of suspense (The Guardian).
“The seven stories in this stellar collection from the prolific Oates may prompt the reader to turn on all the lights or jump at imagined noises. . . . This volume burnishes [her] reputation as a master of psychological dread.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“For horror stories to be truly horrific, the reader has to care. Oates feels this deeply in her writing, and delivers with style.” —The Independent
“Further confirmation of a unique writer’s restless, preternatural brilliance.” —The Guardian Views: 589
