Joyce Carol Oates
Author of We Were the Mulvaneys
About the Author
Joyce Carol Oates was born on June 16, 1938 in Lockport, New York. She received a bachelor's degree in English from Syracuse University and a master's degree in English from the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of numerous novels and collections of short stories. Her works include We Were show more the Mulvaneys, Blonde, Bellefleur, You Must Remember This, Because It Is Bitter, Because It Is My Heart, Solstice, Marya : A Life, and Give Me Your Heart. She has received numerous awards including the National Book Award for Them, the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Lifetime Achievement in American Literature. She was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with her title Lovely, Dark, Deep. She also wrote a series of suspense novels under the pseudonym Rosamond Smith. In 2015, her novel The Accursed became listed as a bestseller on the iBooks chart. She worked as a professor of English at the University of Windsor, before becoming the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University. She and her late husband Raymond J. Smith operated a small press and published a literary magazine, The Ontario Review. (Bowker Author Biography) Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most eminent and prolific literary figures and social critics of our times. She has won the National Book Award and several O. Henry and Pushcart prizes. Among her other awards are an NEA grant, a Guggenheim fellowship, the PEN/Malamud Lifetime Achievement Award, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Lifetime Achievement in American Literature. (Publisher Provided) show less
Image credit: Star Black
Series
Works by Joyce Carol Oates
Wild Nights!: Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James, and Hemingway (1985) 427 copies
The Sophisticated Cat: A Gathering of Stories, Poems, and Miscellaneous Writings About Cats (1992) — Editor — 99 copies
Three Plays: Ontological Proof of My Existence/Miracle Play/the Triumph of the Spider Monkey (1980) 9 copies
[unidentified works] 6 copies
Family 4 copies
The Crossing 4 copies
Mastiff 4 copies
Tone Clusters 4 copies
Haunted [short fiction] 3 copies
Night Walks: A Bedside Companion 3 copies
############## [short story] 3 copies
The Step-Father 3 copies
Murder for Love/Murder for Women/At the Paradise Hotel Sparks Nevada/Heartbreak House [audio] (1996) 3 copies
The Haunting 3 copies
How I Contemplated the World from the Detroit House of Correction and Began My Life Over Again 3 copies
Brothers [short story] 3 copies
In a Region of Ice [short story] 3 copies
Curly Red 3 copies
The Sky-blue Ball 3 copies
Martyrdom [novelette] 3 copies
Landfill 2 copies
El legado de Maude Donegal. El hijo superviviente: Dos novelas de misterio: 482 (Nuevos Tiempos) (2022) 2 copies
A Brutal Murder in a Public Place [short story] — Author — 2 copies
Pumpkin Head 2 copies
The Others 2 copies
Blind 2 copies
Valentine, July Heat Wave 2 copies
The Doll 2 copies
Give Me Your Heart [short story] 2 copies
The Ruins of Contracoeur 2 copies
Blonde 2 copies
Nightless Nights 2 copies
Cupid & Psyche 2 copies
In Shock 2 copies
Night-side [short story] 2 copies
The Corn Maiden [short story] 2 copies
The Eclipse 2 copies
The Dream-catcher 2 copies
Vahşi Geceler: Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James ve Hemingway'in Son Günleri Üzerine Hikayeler (Turkish Edition) (2009) 2 copies
Oni 1 copy
De bingo meester 1 copy
Maiden 1 copy
Monstruo de ojos verdes 1 copy
La fille du fossoyeur 1 copy
Frankenstein's Fallen Angel 1 copy
Murder For Revenge 1 copy
INFIELES 1 copy
O Boxe Livro 1 1 copy
The Instructor 1 copy
Eles 1 copy
First marriage 1 copy
The Devil's Half-Acre 1 copy
Kadınlar 1 copy
Schroeder's Stepfather 1 copy
Panic 1 copy
Ladies and Gentlemen 1 copy
Face 1 copy
By the River [short story] 1 copy
Murder-Two 1 copy
Happiness 1 copy
The Cousins [short story] 1 copy
The Gathering Squall 1 copy
Nairobi - story 1 copy
Funland 1 copy
The Lamb of Abyssalia 1 copy
Season of Peril 1 copy
The Miraculous Birth 1 copy
Daisy 1 copy
A Middle-Class Education 1 copy
Raven's Wing: 2 1 copy
The Key & Tone Clusters 1 copy
Unprintable 1 copy
The Hands 1 copy
Labor Day 1 copy
Posthumous 1 copy
Omen 1 copy
The Sons Of Angus Macelster 1 copy
The Affliction 1 copy
Scars 1 copy
An Urban Paradox 1 copy
Intensive 1 copy
Where Are You Going 1 copy
Death Astride Bicycle 1 copy
Fever Blisters 1 copy
Shadows Of The Evening 1 copy
The Temple 1 copy
The Hand-puppet 1 copy
Angel of Mercy 1 copy
The Life of the Writer, the Life of the Career (The Bennington Chapbooks in Literature) (1995) 1 copy
Death Mother 1 copy
A Manhattan Romance 1 copy
The Journey 1 copy
In Case of Accidental Death 1 copy
Prašmatnūs žmonės: romanas 1 copy
SEVGI DOLUDUR YERYUZU 1 copy
Fossil-Figures 1 copy
Expensive Things 1 copy
Oates, Joyce Carol Archive 1 copy
The White Cat 1 copy
The First Husband 1 copy
Feral 1 copy
One Good Turn 1 copy
Stripping 1 copy
The Rose Wall 1 copy
Gay 1 copy
The Sepulchre 1 copy
Mistrial 1 copy
The Stone Orchard 1 copy
The Interview 1 copy
Where Is Here? [short story] 1 copy
Snowfall 1 copy
It is My Heart 1 copy
Wooded Forms 1 copy
Associated Works
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales (2010) — Contributor — 976 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: Fifty North American American Stories Since 1970 (1999) — Contributor — 504 copies
For the Love of Books: 115 Celebrated Writers on the Books They Love Most (1999) — Contributor — 451 copies
McSweeney's Issue 18 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) / Wholphin No. 1 (2005) — Contributor — 408 copies
You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories that Held Them in Awe (1994) — Introduction — 377 copies
Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers: Magical Tales of Love and Seduction (1998) — Contributor — 351 copies
The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories (1999) — Contributor — 345 copies
McSweeney's Issue 11 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern): It Can Be Free (2003) — Contributor — 322 copies
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales (1998) — Contributor — 298 copies
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now (2009) — Contributor — 263 copies
The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing, Volume 1 (1970) — Preface, some editions — 249 copies
In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper (2016) — Contributor — 240 copies
A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by Joseph Cornell (2001) — Contributor — 193 copies
Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown: A Treasury of Bizarre Tales Old and New (1993) — Contributor — 193 copies
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers (1994) — Contributor — 183 copies
An American Album: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Harper's Magazine (2000) — Contributor — 131 copies
Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films (2005) — Contributor — 121 copies
What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most (2013) — Contributor — 95 copies
The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors (2010) — Contributor — 93 copies
The International Association of Crime Writers Presents Bad Behavior (1995) — Contributor — 90 copies
Freedom: Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2009) — Contributor — 73 copies
Who's Writing This? Notations on the Authorial I, with Self-Portraits {not Antæus} (1995) — Contributor — 72 copies
Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives (2009) — Contributor — 67 copies
More Stories We Tell: The Best Contemporary Short Stories by North American Women (2004) — Contributor — 63 copies
The New Mystery: The International Association of Crime Writers' Essential Crime Writing of the Late 20th Century (1993) — Contributor — 62 copies
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: First Annual Collection (2000) — Contributor — 59 copies
The Web She Weaves: An Anthology of Mystery and Suspense Stories by Women (1983) — Contributor — 52 copies
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Second Annual Collection (2001) — Contributor — 47 copies
Alive in Shape and Color: 16 Paintings by Great Artists and the Stories They Inspired (2019) — Contributor — 46 copies
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Third Annual Collection (2002) — Contributor — 43 copies
Between the Dark and the Daylight and 27 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2009) — Contributor — 41 copies
Unusual Suspects: A New Anthology of Crime Stories from Black Lizard (1996) — Contributor — 39 copies
Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Ghosts: 25 Classic Stories of the Supernatural (2011) — Contributor — 37 copies
Nightmare Magazine, October 2014 (Women Destroy Horror! special issue) (2014) — Composer, some editions — 36 copies
Rediscoveries: Informal Essays in Which Well-Known Novelists Rediscover Neglected Works of Fiction by One of Their… (1971) — Contributor — 27 copies
About Women: An Anthology of Contemporary Fiction, Poetry, and Essays (1973) — Contributor — 26 copies
Selected Shorts: American Classics (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) (2010) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook: A Collection of Stories with Recipes (2016) — Contributor — 18 copies
Fifty Years of the American Short Story from the O. Henry Awards 1919-1970 (1970) — Contributor — 13 copies
Antaeus No. 64/65, Spring/Autumn 1990 - Twentieth Anniversary Issue (1990) — Contributor — 12 copies
Winter's Tales: New Series No 6 (International Anthology of Stories by New & Established Auth) (1990) — Contributor — 11 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Seventh Annual Edition (1998) — Contributor — 9 copies
Amerika, Amerika bloemlezing — Contributor — 8 copies
Onthebus No. 8 and 9 — Contributor — 6 copies
Antaeus No. 73/74, Spring 1994 - Who’s Writing This: Notations on the Authorial I {magazine} (1994) — Contributor — 5 copies
Mississippi Review: MR45 — Contributor — 4 copies
F(r)iction no. 13 : The comeback issue — Contributor — 4 copies
Fifty Years of the American Short Story: from the O. Henry Awards 1919-1970 (Volume I) (1970) — Contributor — 3 copies
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine - 2004/03-04 — Contributor — 2 copies
Killer Crimes — Author — 2 copies
32 Współczesne Opowiadania Amerykańskie - Tom II — Contributor — 1 copy
Speaking of Work: A Story of Love, Suspense and Paperclips — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Oates, Joyce Carol
- Other names
- Kelly, Lauren
Smith, Rosamond - Birthdate
- 1938-06-16
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Lockport, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
Princeton, New Jersey, USA - Education
- Syracuse University (B.A. | 1960)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.A. | English | 1961) - Occupations
- university professor
author - Relationships
- Smith, Raymond J. (first spouse)
Gross, Charles G. (second spouse) - Organizations
- Princeton University
University of Windsor - Awards and honors
- PEN/Malamud Award (1996)
Bram Stoker Award (Life achievement|1994)
Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement (2003)
Humanist of the Year (2007)
National Humanities Medal (2010)
F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Fiction (1998) (show all 9)
Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement (2012)
American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature ∙ 1978)
Carl Sandburg Literary Award (2002) - Agent
- Warren Frazier (John Hawkins & Associates)
Members
Discussions
Group Read, November 2021: Blonde in 1001 Books to read before you die (November 2021)
Joyce c oates in Book talk (April 2020)
Group Read, October 2015: them in 1001 Books to read before you die (October 2015)
THE DEEP ONES: "Family" by Joyce Carol Oates in The Weird Tradition (May 2015)
I've never read *******; where should I start? in Virago Modern Classics (January 2014)
August 2013: Joyce Carol Oates in Monthly Author Reads (October 2013)
GROUP READ: Bellefleur (June - August 2011) in Fans of Joyce Carol Oates (January 2012)
JCO memoir 'A Widdow's Story' in Fans of Joyce Carol Oates (June 2011)
Reviews
Lists
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1990s (2)
To Read (3)
Unread books (1)
Read These Too (1)
Same Title (1)
AP Lit (1)
Greatest Books (1)
Carole's List (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 440
- Also by
- 329
- Members
- 55,413
- Popularity
- #268
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 1,572
- ISBNs
- 2,232
- Languages
- 24
- Favorited
- 219
The book delivers precisely what is promised by the combination of title and subtitle.¹ It delivers more than promised in the sense that the biographer and editor, Greg Johnson, is also the author’s friend—and so the letters are warmer and more wide-ranging than might otherwise be expected from coolly business-like correspondence with a biographer. If you come looking for a heavily-edited, thematically-arranged volume, you’ll be disappointed. The edits are limited and judicious, usually in the form of a short introduction to set the context or clarifying comments enclosed in brackets within the text of the letters to identify people, places, events, and the like that would otherwise be confusing to the reader. The latter are especially important given that we have only the letters to the biographer and not the other half of the conversation. Reading the book is very much like overhearing one half of an ongoing phone conversation with Joyce Carol Oates (JCO) about her spouse, her pets, her colleagues, her work, the publishing world (Vanguard, Random House, Dutton, Norton, Doubleday, Ecco/HarperCollins) and editors, other authors, the theater world, and academic literary circles.
You’ll also be disappointed if you come looking for an unabridged, academic collection or critical edition of the complete correspondence. Elipses within the letters identify missing portions. You’ll have to make your own index if you want to refer back to JCO’s opinions about Toni Morrison, John Updike, Tom Wolfe, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, Truman Capote, Charles Gibson, Janet Malcom, Margaret Atwood, Mike Tyson, Flannery O’Connor, Angelina Jolie, Marilynne Robinson, Saul Bellow, Nabokov, Henry James, Philip Roth, Stephen King, Walter Mosley, P.D. James, Donald Trump, Norman Mailer, Elaine Showalter, Jeanne Halpern, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Silko, Louise Erdrich, Wallace Stevens, Oprah Winfrey, Cormac McCarthy, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and Harold Bloom and Cornel West (“masters of bloviation,” p. 291).²
Of special interest throughout the book are the many observations JCO makes in the letters about the writing life, especially the challenge of moving back and forth between plays, short stories, novels (shorter and longer, YA and literary fiction), and poetry. She despairs of ever mastering the novella and she frequently mentions the challenge, even agony, of the first draft vs. the relative ease of revising. (“Yet, to have the facility of a Mozart, to toss work off without any effort at all, would not be much fun,” p. 58. “I expect to glance into a mirror one day & see a blank space with the notice OUT OF PRINT across it,” p. 291)
I am in the very odd (for me) position of reviewing a book about (by?) an author whose work I have not read, except in the occasional New Yorker or Atlantic essay or article in the New York Review of Books. I’ve never read her novels or seen her plays performed. And, frankly, this is probably not the book that one should choose for an introduction to JCO. Better, or at least more likely to be comprehensive for the periods it covers, is the 1998 biography, also by Greg Johnson (Invisible Writer: A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates). However, this book of letters and subsequent research (especially the November 20, 2023 Profile in the New Yorker by Rachel Aviv, “Joyce Carol Oates’s Relentless, Prolific Search for a Self”) intrigues me enough to pursue reading a few of her novels and short story collections as time permits over the next year or so. If that is the criterion, the book was clearly a success.
Contents
Preface by Greg Johnson
Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates
Part One: 1975-1990
Part Two: 1991-1992
Part Three: 1993-1995
Part Four: 1996-1998
Part Five: 1999-2004
Part Six: 2005-2006
Who Should Read It?
Students of JCO who are trying to obtain contextual and biographical information to understand her oeuvre will be interested in the book, as will any hard core fans of either JCO or Greg Johnson. It is not for people like me who have limited to no prior acquaintance with JCO’s work, as there are likely better entrées to that work and summaries of it.
Princetonians should read the book. In addition to JCO, the university and the town (especially the McCarter Theatre) play a prominent role in the correspondence. As someone who spent significant time at Princeton Theological Seminary during the periods covered by the book (1988-1995), I found it a wonderful trip down memory lane. One letter in particular, dated 8 February 1994, with its brief mention of the weather (“Our weather is unspeakable! More snow! Sleet!”) was especially meaningful. We have photos of that horrific winter in which our first daughter was born a week after the letter was penned. The snow never let up.
Upcoming Events at which JCO will Promote the Book:
1 This book was received via LibraryThing Early Reviewers (LTER), a program by which publishers provide advance copies of books for review (or, as in this case, recently published copies—the book was released on March 5 and I was notified that I had “won” it on February 27; I received and started reading it on March 8). The book arrived complete with a Press Kit from Akashic Books with promotional events with Joyce Carol Oates listed from March 18-May 20. LibraryThing does not dictate the content or tone of any reviews, so long as they abide by the Terms of Use publicly posted on the site. This review is my honest opinion.
2 Cornel West actually appears with an interview/essay in the next book I must review, Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future, Rowman & Littlefield: NY, 2023, edited by George Yancy.… (more)