Joyce Carol Oates (novels, best, human, English)

[brubaker]

Any other fans? Some of her (earlier) stuff is a bit dry but I reeeally like the gothic, darker short stories contained in Night-Side.

I've also read Zombie and Foxfire...and countless others found in old English Composition class collections.

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[kevxu]

I guess I represent the flip side of her fan coin: I liked the earlier work, such as With Shuddering Fall, Garden of Earthly Delights, Them, etc. She is an interesting and powerful writer. I went to college with her, and she struck me as a pleasant person, but very self-contained, even withdrawn. She had an almost Pre-Raphaelite quality about her - she could have been painted by Burne-Jones.

[CA4Now]

The only book of hers I read was We Were the Mulvaneys, which was incredibly sad but so well written. I think she wrote it in the mid-1990's. Her insights into family life are amazing.

[delusianne]

I resent that she's so prolific! I read some of her novels as a kid in the 70s, the first was Expensive People, then Wonderland I think... but I enjoy her creepy stories too, brubaker -- I cherish an old short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

I was comfortable ignoring her for twenty years, but a while ago I read Blonde and was impressed. Joyce has become much more relaxed and human, almost warm! Though still a little on the artificial, humorless side for me. And Im jealous that she churns them out so easily.

[StilltheSame]

I have only read one book by her, but I really liked it - Black Girl, White Girl. It wasnt the best written story (she is quite prolific after all) but it really stayed with me and I liked the unusual premise.