Lydia is a graduate student in cultural anthropology—a fellow at a prestigious university, with a bright future ahead of her. Harvey, her brother, is a seminary student driven by his god-besotted studies. The two have never shared much of anything except a mutual desire to escape the stifling confines of the home they grew up in and the parents they left behind. But when Lydia's estranged parents call her to say Harvey has mysteriously dropped out of seminary, Lydia begrudgingly sets out to "rescue" him—though the dark path into Harvey's new world leads Lydia herself through a threatening terrain of addiction, sexuality, and violence. An astute, insightful, and mordant examination of faith, family, and sibling ties, The Rescuer is Joyce Carol Oates at her best. Views: 279
Belle Fleur by Joyce Carol Oates has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher. Views: 265
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Niamh sneaks out to attend the festival of Beltaine and soon encounters a mysterious young man.When she has to choose between running deeper into a dark forest with a supernatural creature that shouldn't exist or facing an unknown threatchasing her, Niamh discovers she will have to rethink everything she knows about the Fae.Sometimes love needs a little push in the right direction.Or a good and proper shove.At least that’s what Dianna Trowl believes, profusely, or else she’d never have done what she did.It would have been foolish, it would have been a scandal, if…it hadn’t of worked.But it did, and sometimes the price to pay for a gentleman’s attention is worth every penny. And convincing Lord Southridge to believe in love at first sight? Priceless. Views: 239
If a young man is ditched by his girlfriend, could he fall in love with a cat?After a series of mishaps, Rose finds herself in an alternate realm, brought there to hone the magical power she was born with. Even here, though, Rose feels set apart. The Academy Masters treat her differently than the others. Her assigned soul mate avoids her when he should be working with her. Despite all this, Rose begins to grow into something no one could’ve seen coming; a hero.With her, nothing is as it should be, and she decides to find out why. Soon she discovers that not everything about this new world is what it seems.Least of all her. Views: 236
"Reading the fifteen stories in Prison Noir is a sobering experience. Unlike most claimants to that much-abused term, this is the real thing...The power of this collection comes from the voices of these authors, voices suffused with rage ("3 Block From Hell," by Bryan K. Palmer), despair ("There Will Be Seeds for Next Year," by Zeke Caligiuri), and madness ("Shuffle," by Christopher M. Stephen)."
-- New York Times Book Review
"These are stories that resonate with authenticity and verve and pain and truth. Any collection edited by the National Book Award-winning author Oates (them; Blonde, Rape: A Love Story) deserves attention, but the contributors are deft and confident, and great writers without her imprimatur....Authentic, powerful, visceral, moving, great writing."
-- Library Journal , Starred review
"A remarkable anthology of stories written by inmates of correctional institutions across America...Most importantly, this landmark volume amplifies the voices of the incarcerated."
-- Publishers Weekly , Starred review
One of BookRiot's Must-Read Books from Indie Presses for 2014
"I gobbled it up. The voice in each piece is authentic...A fascinating read."
-- subTerrain Magazine
"A strong compilation of prison literature, varied, well-written and not always what might be expected."
--Reviewing the Evidence
"No matter what side of the bars you live on, Prison Noir is worth doing time with."
-- Killeen Daily Herald
"Readers will soak up every line...There is no doubt that readers from all walks of life, especially those less knowledgeable about life in prison, will appreciate Prison Noir."
--Killer Nashville
"This is a collection of stories that you will want to take your time with, savor, and probably reread a few times."
--Jenn's Review Blog
"There is an intensity and melancholy that shines through these fifteen short stories, all written by prison inmates incarcerated throughout the US, and edited by the inestimable Joyce Carol Oates."
--A Lit Chick
"Affecting, powerfully written and arresting literature. Well worth seeking out."
--BRSBKBLOG
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective geographic range of the book. This anthology, with stories set in different prisons across the US, presents an absolutely new perspective on prison literature.
From the introduction by Joyce Carol Oates:
"The blood jet is poetry--these words of Sylvia Plath have reverberated through my experience of reading and rereading the stories of Prison Noir. In this case the blood jet is prose, though sometimes poetic prose; if we go a little deeper, in some chilling instances, the blood jet is exactly that: blood. For these stories are not "literary" exercises--though some are exceptionally well-written by any formalist standards, and artfully structured as narratives; with a single exception the stories are stark, somber, emotionally driven cris de coeur...We may feel revulsion for some of the acts described in these stories, but we are likely to feel a startled, even stunned sympathy for the perpetrators. And in several stories, including even murderers' confessions, we are likely to feel a profound and unsettling identification...There is no need for fantasy-horror in a place in which matter-of-fact horror is the norm, and mental illness is epidemic. Vividly rendered realism is the predominant literary strategy, as in a riveting documentary film."
Featuring brand-new stories by: Christopher M. Stephen, Sin Soracco, Scott Gutches, Eric Boyd, Ali F. Sareini, Stephen Geez, B.M. Dolarman, Zeke Caligiuri, Marco Verdoni, Kenneth R. Brydon, Linda Michelle Marquardt, Andre White, Timothy Pauley, Bryan K. Palmer, and William Van Poyck. Views: 233
In the chilling world of Give Me Your Heart, the need for love is obsessive, self-destructive and unpredictable. It takes us to forbidden places, confronts us with gruesome truths, and leads us beyond our control. In the unsettling 'Strip Poker, ' a reckless teenage girl must turn the tables on a group of threatening young men. Can she outplay them? In the award-winning 'Smother!' a daughter's nightmarish childhood memory brings trouble to the door of her bourgeois mother. Which of them will win? In 'The First Husband, ' a jealous man discovers his wife lied about her first marriage, and plans a cruel revenge. Will he go through with it? In these and other powerful tales, children move beyond their parents' reach, wives and husbands wake up as strangers, haunted pasts intrude upon uncertain futures, and lives hang in the balance. In ten razor-sharp stories, National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates shows that the most deadly mysteries often begin at home. Views: 228
It is 1950 and, after a disastrous honeymoon night, Ariah Erskine's young husband throws himself into the roaring waters of Niagara Falls. Ariah, "the Widow Bride of the Falls," begins a relentless seven-day vigil in the mist, waiting for his body to be found. At her side is confirmed bachelor and pillar of the community Dirk Burnaby, who is unexpectedly drawn to her. What follows is a passionate love affair, marriage, and family -- a seemingly perfect existence. But tragedy soon takes over their lives, poisoning their halcyon years with distrust, greed, and murder.
Set against the mythic-historic backdrop of Niagara Falls in the mid-twentieth century, this haunting exploration of the American family in crisis is a stunning achievement from "one of the great artistic forces of our time" (The Nation).
This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. Views: 206
This is the first translation into English of the verse drama Germanicus by the Afrikaans poet N.P. Van Wyk Louw. The work was based on the first three chapters of the Annales of the Roman historiographer Tacitus. The drama has been considered a highlight in Afrikaans literature since its publication in 1956.This is the first translation into English of the verse drama Germanicus by the Afrikaans poet N.P. Van Wyk Louw. The work was based on the first three chapters of the Annales of the Roman historiographer Tacitus. After the death of Emperor Augustus, his successor Tiberius’ adopted son Germanicus recoils from the cruelty inherent in imperial rule. In the end he helplessly acquiesces, finally welcoming his own death as a means of escape from the burden of empire. The drama has been considered a highlight in Afrikaans literature since its publication in 1956. Its interest lies in its amazing sweep of words, Louw’s sense of history and his portrayal of the inevitability of the corruption inherent in power. Louw’s great monologues dominate the debates between his main protagonists. His poetic Afrikaans had a grand eloquence that swept his audience along in a torrent of densely-argued meaning. Such conciseness offered severe challenges to the translator. Claassen’s colloquial translation manages to capture both the essence of Louw’s dramatic dialogues and the rhythmic cadences of the original poetry. The translator provides a lengthy Introduction, aimed at both a classical and a theatre-going readership, explaining the historical background and discussing Louw’s interpretation of Tacitus’ narrative and the constraints under which a translator works. A brief overview of the contents of the drama’s eight scenes is followed by a select bibliography. Views: 201
New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates returns with an incendiary novel that illuminates the tragic impact of sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power on innocent lives and probes the persistence of stereotypes, the nature of revenge, the complexities of truth, and our insatiable hunger for sensationalism.
When a fourteen-year-old girl is the alleged victim of a terrible act of racial violence, the incident shocks and galvanizes her community, exacerbating the racial tension that has been simmering in this New Jersey town for decades. In this magisterial work of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates explores the uneasy fault lines in a racially troubled society. In such a tense, charged atmosphere, Oates reveals that there must always be a sacrifice—of innocence, truth, trust, and, ultimately, of lives. Unfolding in a succession of multiracial voices, in a community transfixed by this alleged crime and the spectacle unfolding around it, this profound novel exposes what—and who—the “sacrifice” actually is, and what consequences these kind of events hold for us all.
Working at the height of her powers, Oates offers a sympathetic portrait of the young girl and her mother, and challenges our expectations and beliefs about our society, our biases, and ourselves. As the chorus of its voices—from the police to the media to the victim and her family—reaches a crescendo, The Sacrifice offers a shocking new understanding of power and oppression, innocence and guilt, truth and sensationalism, justice and retribution.
A chilling exploration of complex social, political, and moral themes—the enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the primal decisions we all make to protect those we love—The Sacrifice is a major work of fiction from one of our most revered literary masters. Views: 199
A powerfully resonant and provocative novel from American master and New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates. In this striking, enormously affecting novel, Joyce Carol Oates tells the story of two very different and yet intimately linked American families.
Luther Dunphy is an ardent Evangelical who envisions himself as acting out God's will when he assassinates an abortion provider in his small Ohio town while Augustus Voorhees, the idealistic doctor who is killed, leaves behind a wife and children scarred and embittered by grief.
In her moving, insightful portrait, Joyce Carol Oates fully inhabits the perspectives of two interwoven families whose destinies are defined by their warring convictions and squarely-but with great empathy-confronts an intractable, abiding rift in American society.
A Book of American Martyrs is a stunning, timely depiction of an issue hotly debated on a national stage but which makes itself felt most lastingly in communities torn apart by violence and hatred. Views: 173
A new collection of poetry from an American literary legend after nearly twenty-five years Joyce Carol Oates is one of our most insightful observers of the human heart and mind, and, with her acute social consciousness, one of the most insistent and inspired witnesses of a shared American history. Oates is perhaps best known for her prodigious output of novels and short stories, many of which have become contemporary classics. However, Oates has also always been a faithful writer of poetry. American Melancholy showcases some of her finest work of the last few decades. Covering subjects big and small, and written in an immediate and engaging style, this collection touches on both the personal and political. Loss, love, and memory are investigated, along with the upheavals of our modern age, the reality of our current predicaments, and the ravages of poverty, racism, and social unrest. Oates skillfully writes characters ranging... Views: 173
Terence Greene is admired for his perfect life in an affluent New Jersey suburb, and for his marriage to a minister’s beautiful and wealthy daughter. He’s also envied for his successful career as director of an arts foundation. But all of that changes when Terence is summoned to jury duty in Trenton. Ava-Rose Renfrew, the alleged victim in an assault case, is a sexy, irresistibly raw, and low-rent woman who lives on the shadowy banks of the Delaware River with a strange clan she calls family. And she’s very eager to show Terence her appreciation for his loyalty in the jury box.
Before long, their quick and dirty affair becomes an obsession, and getting hooked on a drug as potent and violent as Ava-Rose soon turns Terence’s respectable life to dust. He’s willing to do anything for her: lie, embezzle, steal—and worse. For Terence, losing control is half the fun. But trying to get it back is terrifying.
The recipient of honors ranging from the National Book Award to the Bram Stoker Award, Joyce Carol Oates has explored obsession and sexual terrors in such acclaimed novels as Zombie, Daddy Love, and Jack of Spades. In Double Delight, writing as Rosamond Smith, she proves herself an abandoned and fearless talent in psychological suspense.
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Frank Arthur Swinnerton was an English novelist, critic, biographer and essayist. He was the author of more than 50 books, and as a publisher's editor helped other writers including Aldous Huxley and Lytton Strachey. Views: 139
In the summer of 1974, a fourteen-year-old girl in Dolton, Illinois, had a dream. A dream to become an actress, like her idols Ron Howard and Vicki Lawrence. But it was a long way from the South Side of Chicago to Hollywood, and it didn't help that she'd recently dropped out of the school play, "The Ugly Duckling." Or that the Hollywood casting directors she wrote to replied that "professional training was a requirement." But the funny thing is, it all came true. Through a series of Happy Accidents, Jane Lynch created an improbable-and hilarious-path to success. In those early years, despite her dreams, she was also consumed with anxiety, feeling out of place in both her body and her family. To deal with her worries about her sexuality, she escaped in positive ways-such as joining a high school chorus not unlike the one in "Glee"-but also found destructive outlets. She started drinking almost every night her freshman year of high school and developed a mean and judgmental streak that turned her into a real-life Sue Sylvester.Then, at thirty-one, she started to get her life together. She was finally able to embrace her sexuality, come out to her parents, and quit drinking for good. Soon after, a Frosted Flakes commercial and a chance meeting in a coffee shop led to a role in the Christopher Guest movie "Best in Show," which helped her get cast in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Similar coincidences and chance meetings led to roles in movies starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and even Meryl Streep in 2009's "Julie & Julia." Then, of course, came the two lucky accidents that truly changed her life. Getting lost in a hotel led to an introduction to her future wife, Lara. Then, a series she'd signed up for abruptly got canceled, making it possible for her to take the role of Sue Sylvester in "Glee," which made her a megastar. Today, Jane Lynch has finally found the contentment she thought she'd never have. Part comic memoir and part inspirational narrative, this is a book equally for the rabid "Glee" fan and for anyone who needs a new perspective on life, love, and success. WITH A FOREWORD BY CAROL BURNETT This ebook includes 50 color photographs! Excerpt from "Happy Accidents" If I could go back in time and talk to my twenty-year-old self, the first thing I would say is: "Lose the perm." Secondly I would say: "Relax. Really. Just relax. Don't sweat it." I can't remember a time when I wasn't anxious and fearful that the parade would pass me by. And I was sure there was someone or something outside of myself with all the answers. I had a driving, anxiety-filled ambition. I wanted to be a working actor so badly. I wanted to belong and feel like I was valued and seen. Well, now I am a working actor, and I guarantee you it's not because I suffered or worried over it. &nb Views: 134
An engrossing early novel from Joyce Carol Oates's earlier novels explores a fraught and perilous relationship between two womenOriginally published in 1985, Solstice is the gripping story of Monica Jensen and Sheila Trask, two young women who are complete opposites yet find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. Monica is a shy, modest, and recently divorced school teacher while Sheila is a worldly, sophisticated, and nocturnal painter driven by the needs of her art. Over the months, their friendship deepens, first to love and then to a near-fatal obsession.Engaging, dark, and mysterious, Solstice is Joyce Carol Oates's psychological masterpiece of friendship and fixation. Views: 72
