In Beasts, Oates explores the underbelly of a common before-bed/during-class fantasy: that of being seduced, admired, respected by a professor. In this case the greasy yet intoxicating Professor Andre Harrow is joined in his frequent seductions by his part French wife, Dorcus, a jealous green parrot, and a host of date-rape drugs. Oates chooses as her protagonist a modern Philomela, who cannot speak because a man has cut out her tongue, yet who gains freedom and adulthood through an apposite revenge.Oates uses a frame story and first person narrative to create distance between the reader and truth. She leaves just the right amount of mystery, the right amount of questions never answered: who sets the fires? did Mr. Harrow love his girls? are seduction and submission synonymous?Currently, I am trying to read books by women authors; I have found most of my favorites are men, and I’ve decided it’s from lack of exposure to ecriture feminine. One can certainly tell that a woman wrote this novella. But what is it that makes that so? Is it the subject matter? Sex. Drugs. Seduction. A young woman’s coming-of-age. Is it the writing style? Emotive. Referential. Tight. Helene Cixous would be proud. Oates writes from the body; she writes about the body; her subject matter is the body. The woman’s body is her body of work—whether sculptural or poetic or danced or slit. One could discount this text as merely a perfect midnight snack of a novella. To those, I would suggest rereading it in glaring morning sunshine on a full stomach. ( )

Possibly my favorite Oates book so far, although she is quite simply one of my best-loved authors. I read this in a single-sitting in a coffee house. When I put it down, I was in a daze. Amazing. ( )

While I found this book quite enjoyable and well-written during the short period while I was actually reading it, I was disturbed by how uncritically it embraces traditional literary tropes (the primitive evil of the 'savage' preying on the innocent). Despite the fact that it complicates these tropes in a number of ways - the lead character ends up in a lesbian relationship with a girl who self-identifies as Black, there is a woman who is involved with predation rather than merely a man - I ultimately found these complications unsatisfying and not complete.Ultimately, I wanted to ask Oates why she chose to display not just the predators' art but also the art of Canadian native peoples as idols to perversity and sadism. We never see any form of art - not poetry, not sculpture, not photography, nothing - as anything but a beguiling snare, a way for the predators to captivate young girls and do them harm. Then what does Oates think of her own work? Is she too creating false idols?Or is she merely not thinking through her imagery very well, trying to tell a story and telling a quite different one unintentionally? ( )

While I found this book quite enjoyable and well-written during the short period while I was actually reading it, I was disturbed by how uncritically it embraces traditional literary tropes (the primitive evil of the 'savage' preying on the innocent). Despite the fact that it complicates these tropes in a number of ways - the lead character ends up in a lesbian relationship with a girl who self-identifies as Black, there is a woman who is involved with predation rather than merely a man - I ultimately found these complications unsatisfying and not complete.Ultimately, I wanted to ask Oates why she chose to display not just the predators' art but also the art of Canadian native peoples as idols to perversity and sadism. We never see any form of art - not poetry, not sculpture, not photography, nothing - as anything but a beguiling snare, a way for the predators to captivate young girls and do them harm. Then what does Oates think of her own work? Is she too creating false idols?Or is she merely not thinking through her imagery very well, trying to tell a story and telling a quite different one unintentionally? ( )

Deeply disturbingly Gothic in the portrayal of "innocent" college girls infatuated by their manipulative professor who seduces and uses them to the point of their self destruction.

Set in the backdrop of a small New England college, the literal coldness of the winter frames the cruely of the professor and his wife as the young college girls happily feel honored to trek to the snow covered, pine tree laden house of bizzare beastly happenings.

This is one of Oates darker books exploring the nature of self destruction. ( )

Short, nightmarish tale of a university professor and his wife who exert a strange - and dangerous - fascination for the girls he teaches. I think the ultimate message of the book is that we are all beasts - but some of us are more beastly than others. [July 2005] ( )

Dark, sensual, gothic, obsessive, rich, bestial, lyrical, addictive... Joyce Carol Oates amazes me with her vivid and compelling prose! Caution: This is not for everyone. Read at your own risk! ( )

The best thing about this book was its brevity - only 138 pages long and thankfully so.

This is the story of a college student's journey into an obsessive relationship with her professor and his wife.

It wasn't very well-written; their relationship was obviously quite intense but the writing was anything but. Written in a different way, this could've been a real page-turner. But it wasn't. It was just lukewarm at best.

I wasn't endeared - either positively or negatively - to any of the characters; I felt altogether disconnected from them and the events of the story.

The ending was quite good however, so this wasn't a total loss. But I'm not sure I would ever read another of her books (though her writings under the pseudonym of Lauren Kelly are good) and I definitely wouldn't recommend "Beasts" to anyone. ( )

Joyce Carol Oates definitely has a dark side and this is a masterful demonstration of it. The story is almost gothic, but contemporary. It tells of a relationship between a professor and his students at a women's college in the 1970s. It is a story about obsession and how that can be mistaken for love. The ending both surprised me and made perfect sense at the same time. ( )

Short, but it packs a punch. Breathtakingly scary at times. ( )