Something New

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Something New

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2avaland
feb. 7, 2012, 12:50 pm

Oh, I will need to come back and listen to that....

Speaking of something new, here is the latest book, due out in March.

MUDWOMAN

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.

3avaland
nov. 12, 2012, 8:51 am

I have gotten behind and recently noticed that JCO has 5 new books.

The Accursed (March 2013)

"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."

Carthage (January 2013)

No information readily available on this, but here a bit from an interview with JCO:

" »Carthage » is in a way a companion novel to « Mudwoman » – it is set in a nearby small city in upstate New York & is about the return of a severely wounded Iraqi War veteran & his effect upon his fiancee & her family. As M.R. is an « intellectual » presence, so in this novel is the father of the young man’s fiancee, a lawyer. The novel is constructed as a mystery – but it is a mystery that is finally « solved. » (In this, it is not a teasing post-Modernist work that eludes meaning.) War is always a tragedy for a society – but especially for those who participate in it, & must return home to their old, now outgrown lives."

Full interview HERE

Daddy Love (January 2013)

"Dinah Whitcomb seemingly has everything. A loving and successful husband, and a smart, precocious young son named Robbie. One day, their worlds are shattered when Dinah is attacked and Robbie is taken in a mall parking lot. Dinah, injured, attempts to follow, but is run over by the kidnapper's van, mangling her body nearly beyond repair.

The kidnapper, a part-time Preacher named Chester Cash, calls himself Daddy Love, as he has abducted, tortured, and raped several young boys into being his lover and as well as his 'son'. He confines Robbie in a device called an Wooden Maiden, in essence a small coffin, and renamed him 'Gideon'. Daddy Love slowly brainwashes 'Gideon' into believing that he is Daddy Love's real son, and any time the boy resists or rebels it is met with punishment beyond his wildest nightmares.

As Dinah recovers from her wounds, her world and her marriage struggle to exist every day. Though it seems hopeless, she keeps a flicker of hope alive that her son is still alive.

As Robbie grows older, he becomes more aware of just how monstrous Daddy Love truly is. Though as a small boy he as terrified of what might happen if he disobeyed Daddy Love, Robbie begins to realize that the longer he stays in the home of this demon, the greater chance he'll end up like Daddy Love's other 'sons' who were never heard from again. Somewhere within this tortured young boy lies a spark of rebellion...and soon he sees just what lengths he must go to in order to have any chance at survival."

Black Dahlia & White Rose: Stories (September 2012)

"A wildly inventive new collection of stories by Joyce Carol Oates that charts the surprising ways in which the world we think we know can unexpectedly reveal its darker contours

The New York Times has hailed Joyce Carol Oates as "a dangerous writer in the best sense of the word, one who takes risks almost obsessively with energy and relish." Black Dahlia & White Rose, a collection of eleven previously uncollected stories, showcases the keen rewards of Oates's relentless brio and invention. In one beautifully honed story after another, Oates explores the menace that lurks at the edges of and intrudes upon even the seemingly safest of lives—and maps with rare emotional acuity the transformational cost of such intrusions.

Unafraid to venture into no-man's-lands both real and surreal, Oates takes readers deep into dangerous territory, from a maximum-security prison—vividly delineating the heartbreaking and unexpected atmosphere of such an institution—to the inner landscapes of two beautiful and mysteriously doomed young women in 1940s Los Angeles: Elizabeth Short, otherwise known as the Black Dahlia, victim of a long-unsolved and particularly brutal murder, and her roommate Norma Jeane Baker, soon to become Marilyn Monroe. Whether exploring the psychological compulsion of the wife of a well-to-do businessman who is ravished by, and elopes with, a lover who is not what he seems or the uneasily duplicitous relationships between young women and their parents, Black Dahlia & White Rose explores the compelling intertwining of dread and desire, the psychic pull and trauma of domestic life, and resonates at every turn with Oates's mordant humor and her trenchant observation."

Two or Three Things I Forgot to Tell You (young adult, August 2012)

"It wasn't like she had not warned us.

It wasn't like she had not prepared us.

We'd known that something was wrong those last several months.

But then, Tink hasn't actually vanished. Tink is gone, and yet—she is here somewhere, even if we can't see her.

Tink? Are you—here?"

4LauraJWRyan
nov. 18, 2012, 8:24 am

My goodness! "Prolific" is the key word here - and they all sound psychologically "squirmy" - I'll never catch up reading everything she wrote, I'm about due to read another from the TBR pile. (I've recently discovered Gina Berriault and have picked up two more by Paula Fox so I've been a little busy.)

5mmignano11
nov. 23, 2012, 5:21 pm

Hi, I'm reading the threads from 2011, albeit rather piecemeal and slowly as I am doing Nanowrimo this month, but I am interested in this group, I posted a new thread but I don't see it showing up. I'll be lurking around these older threads but I hope there will be some new "talk" about JCO. I find her quite amazing, and love the diversity she shows in her various subjects. A woman who truly loves her craft, I think. Can anybody tell me what the other books are in her American Gothic Quintet I have seen referred to here? I think you mean the Winterthurn and Blackmoor books, am I right? I was pleased when I found a rather ancient looking copy of Bellefleur. I hadn't realized JCO wrote books like that, and I think I may have the other books in the Quintet but have to dig themout of my mystery bookshelf. I tend to keep all my JCO's there, even if they are not mysteries, in the interest of keeping them all in one place.
PS-It's nice to be here!

6mmignano11
nov. 23, 2012, 5:25 pm

Now my post is showing up. I guess I had to go into it myself and I activated it or something. As Ellen says, "Anyway..."

7LauraJWRyan
nov. 23, 2012, 11:01 pm

Hi there, it's nice to see you here!

Bellefleur, A Bloodsmoor Romance, the Mysteries of Winterthurn and My Heart Laid Bare are the complete "American Gothic" Quartet (or American Gothic Quintet, or the Gothic Saga, I've seen it referred in various ways.) These are truly fun books, they are complex, over-the-top epics, I believe she truly enjoyed writing these books...I still have My Heart Laid Bare on my "to read" pile for this winter...I'm quite partial to Bellefleur.

I hope you have success with Nanowrimo!

8mmignano11
nov. 27, 2012, 11:25 pm

Hi, and thanks for the info on the Quintet. I think I have all except for My Heart Laid Bare I know I have Bellefleur and I think I have the other two. I will check as soon as I can find the time to pull them out of the old-fashioned desk/bookshelf they are in. I am interested to see where my collection is at right now. I will list it on here when I get to the books. At least Iknow they are all together although there may be one or two books at large. Today I picked up Mudwoman and Black Dahlia, White Rose at the library. I'm looking forward to reading those! (After Nanowrimo)

9avaland
des. 1, 2012, 7:29 am

>6 mmignano11:, 7 I really enjoyed the first three of those Gothics listed, I still have the last to read. I may have to read My Heart Laid Bare in the coming year.

>4 LauraJWRyan: Laura, I thought the choices were also, as you say, 'squirmy'. I'm read from Black Dahlia and White Rose now and each story contains a 'hidden menace'. I might be interested in Carthage and I'm tempted by The Accursed if only for her historical detail.

10LauraJWRyan
des. 4, 2012, 6:13 pm

My copy of My Heart Laid Bare (Plume, 1999) arrived today! It's in beautiful condition, and arrived carefully wrapped in an archival plastic sleeve along with a lovely thank you note from the bookseller, Donna Tschetter. (When I buy on Amazon, I always try to pick books from the indie sellers.) It's moved up into the "next to read" position as soon as I finish Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (I'm almost done with it, so I'll be into this one very soon.)

11avaland
des. 5, 2012, 12:56 pm

I was watching a movie called "Jolene" with my husband the other night and it struck me that the story reminded me of a cross between Moll Flanders and a JCO novel. It was based on an E. L. Doctorow short story, but it has that woman-being-exploited-trying-to-survive sort of theme.

12avaland
des. 7, 2012, 11:04 pm

>10 LauraJWRyan: Gasp! I have just discovered I do NOT have a copy of My Heart Laid Bare! I could swear I had a paperback copy... Guess I will have to procure one. I think it might be a good choice to read this coming year.

13avaland
Editat: des. 20, 2012, 3:46 pm

>10 LauraJWRyan: Laura, I've picked up a copy of My Heart Laid Bare (obtained through ABEbooks, also in excellent condition) and I'm intrigued. I may start 2013 off with this novel!(so, thanks for tipping me off)

>8 mmignano11: I've been reading some in Black Dahlia White Rose but only when I'm in the mood. I think I've read the first four stories.

14LauraJWRyan
des. 20, 2012, 7:04 pm

I'm well into My Heart Laid Bare (page 202 as of last night)...it's a real dandy of a book, I'm loving it :)

15avaland
des. 21, 2012, 10:03 pm

Excellent! I'll look forward to it. I have a few books to finish up first.

16LauraJWRyan
gen. 14, 2013, 7:07 pm

I just finished My Heart Laid Bare, it was a doozy! I'm developing my review and will post it eventually.

I was just reading on the Celestial Timepiece website that the upcoming book "The Accursed" is #5 of the American Gothics, I hadn't realized that when I read the initial descriptions...I had read about this book years ago in The Journals of Joyce Carol Oates 1973-1982, the working title was the "Crosswicks Horror" back in the early 1980's when it was in the making, last I knew it had been finished, but remained unpublished. I'm thrilled that she decided to publish it after all, I can't wait to get it!

17Jargoneer
gen. 16, 2013, 6:47 am

Is it just me or does anyone else feel that with the volume of work JCO is producing she needs a ticker to keep track rather a thread that can barely keep up?

18avaland
gen. 20, 2013, 10:10 am

>16 LauraJWRyan: Oh, interesting. I didn't make that connection initially either. I've put off my reading of My Heart Laid Bare for the time being, but I will get to it this year. And perhaps some of her older stuff. I think I have a saturation point during any given year, that point pushed back if I read a variety.

>17 Jargoneer: Oh, yes, of course! I don't truly try to keep up here—her website is the best place for that—but I will post the new stuff when I see it. I always worry that the short fiction collections might overhap, so I approach with caution, but so far, I haven't seen it.

19mmignano11
gen. 21, 2013, 1:23 pm

I'm on the last half of Mudwoman and in classic JCO fashion, she has me loving the book but sometimes confused by the way she jumps around, and some of the meanderings of the main character. But overall, I like it. I am anxious to read some of her other books now also because this one is just reminding me how smart she is.

20avaland
feb. 13, 2013, 10:39 am

>19 mmignano11: Yeah, that one was interesting. It drifted into fantasy at one point, but her character was having a breakdown...

21mmignano11
març 7, 2013, 12:50 pm

I guess it is time for another JCO book. I may begin the Gothic Saga with Bellefleur. I probably read it so many years ago I can't even recall until I start it again, but I read a lot of Gothic romances when I was a teen so...

22avaland
abr. 27, 2013, 6:21 am

>21 mmignano11: I'm not sure I'd call that a Gothic romance that we might read as teens .... more of a Gothic family saga --- but romance in the classic sense:

a. A long medieval narrative in prose or verse that tells of the adventures and heroic exploits of chivalric heroes: an Arthurian romance.
b. A long fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary or mysterious events, usually set in a distant time or place.
c. The class of literature constituted by such tales.


Enjoy! I read it not so long ago.

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