Joyce Carol Oates

'A page-turner ... nothing less than magical' Observer'An extraordinary slice of suburban noir' Daily MailFrom one of America's most renowned storytellers comes a novel about love and deceit, and lust and redemption, against a background of child abductions in the affluent suburbs of Detroit.

From one of America's most renowned storytellers--the bestselling author of Blonde--comes a novel about love and deceit, and lust and redemption, against a backdrop of shocking murders in the affluent suburbs of Detroit. "Hannah's unreliable, elliptical narrative is seductive and compelling, like following someone into a fever dream ... Oates] is in no hurry to trigger the action, dropping tiny morsels of foreshadowing to keep us on our toes." --The New York Times Book Review "Unsettling, mysterious, deft, sinister, eerily plausible." --Margaret Atwood, best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, via Twitter In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved child-killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together with tragic consequences. There is Hannah, wife of a prominent local businessman, who has begun an affair with a darkly charismatic stranger whose identity remains elusive; Mikey, a canny street hustler who finds himself on a chilling mission to rectify injustice; and the serial killer known as Babysitter, an enigmatic and terrifying figure at the periphery of elite Detroit. As Babysitter continues his rampage of abductions and killings, these individuals intersect with one another in startling and unexpected ways. Suspenseful, brilliantly orchestrated, and engrossing, Babysitter is a starkly narrated exploration of the riskiness of pursuing alternate lives, calling into question how far we are willing to go to protect those whom we cherish most. In its scathing indictment of corrupt politics, unexamined racism, and the enabling of sexual predation in America, Babysitter is a thrilling work of contemporary fiction.

â?? Americaâ??s preeminent fiction writerâ?? New Yorker â?? A raw, propulsive tale of love and griefâ?? Mail on Sunday

Two hitmen in a depressed rust belt town struggle with a job gone wrong. A girl witnesses a horrifying accident and carries it with her for the rest of her life. Medical students bring a severed foot to a college party. Five-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Joyce Carol Oates has made a career of exploring the forbidden corners of human experience, and the stories collected here, spanning her first three decades as a writer, are among her most unsettling and unforgettable works to date. Originally published in long out-of-print volumes, these tales have not appeared in any form this century--until now; formally fresh and endlessly experimental, they show a writer boldly engaging with disturbing truths and terrifying possibilities, and deconstructing the tropes and expectations of traditional prose writing as she does so. But beyond their stylistic ingenuity, these are creepy, suspenseful stories that cut straight to the bone; their darkness will linger long after the final page is turned. A must-read for long-time fans of Joyce Carol Oates and an excellent introduction for the uninitiated, the twenty-two tales included in Extenuating Circumstances exemplify the author's idiosyncratic spookiness, "visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute" (Booklist).

A NOVEL OF LOVE AND LOSS FROM BESTSELLING AND PRIZEWINNING AUTHOR JOYCE CAROL OATESAmid a starkly beautiful but uncanny landscape in New Mexico, a married couple from Cambridge, MA takes residency at a distinguished academic institute. When the husband is stricken with a mysterious illness, misdiagnosed at first, their lives are uprooted and husband and wife each embarks upon a nightmare journey. At thirty-seven, Michaela faces the terrifying prospect of widowhood - and the loss of Gerard, whose identity has greatly shaped her own. In vividly depicted scenes of escalating suspense, Michaela cares desperately for Gerard in his final days as she comes to realize that her love for her husband, however fierce and selfless, is not enough to save him and that his death is beyond her comprehension. A love that refuses to be surrendered at death--is this the blessing of a unique married love, or a curse that must be exorcized? Part intimately detailed love story, part horror story rooted in real life, BREATHE is an exploration of hauntedness rooted in the domesticity of marital love, as well as our determination both to be faithful to the beloved and to survive the trauma of loss.

The first novel from New York Times-bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates, a thrilling, dark tale of family, revenge, and two souls intertwined by love and violence--now back in print for fans of America's most prolific storyteller. Written when Joyce Carol Oates was in her early twenties, and first published in 1964, With Shuddering Fall is her powerful debut novel, the first of five new Oates reprints from Ecco. Following the turbulent story of two lovers who discover themselves mortal enemies, the author explores the struggle for dominance in erotic relationships that has become a predominant theme in her work, as well as the perils of patriarchal inheritance, and the ripple-effects of emotional loss in adolescence. The result is an unsentimental yet sympathetic rendering of a disastrous love affair in which hatred is nearly as powerful as love, and a yearning for destruction is an abiding and insatiable passion. Discover what prompted the New York Times to compare this young writer's debut to Shirley Jackson's famous short story, "The Lottery." Readers looking for a place to start in Joyce Carol Oates's vast catalogue will be intrigued by the sheer narrative force of the young author, and her willingness to anatomize the darkest recesses of humanity in a search for redemption and resolution.

New York Times Bestselling AuthorA young girl's disappearance rocks a community and a family, in this stirring examination of grief, faith, justice, and the atrocities of war, the latest from literary legend Joyce Carol Oates Zeno Mayfield's daughter has disappeared into the night, gone missing in the wilds of the Adirondacks. But when the community of Carthage joins a father's frantic search for the girl, they discover instead the unlikeliest of suspects--a decorated Iraq War veteran with close ties to the Mayfield family. As grisly evidence mounts against the troubled war hero, the family must wrestle with the possibility of having lost a daughter forever. Carthage plunges us deep into the psyche of a wounded young Corporal, haunted by unspeakable acts of wartime aggression, while unraveling the story of a disaffected young girl whose exile from her family may have come long before her disappearance. Dark and riveting, Carthage is a powerful addition to the Joyce Carol Oates canon, one that explores the human capacity for violence, love, and forgiveness, and asks if it's ever truly possible to come home again.

From the towering imagination of Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon and author of BLONDE, now a major motion picture, comes a psychologically complex thriller examining the fine line between genius and madness. Andrew J. Rush is a successful mystery writer with twenty-eight novels to his name. He has a loving wife, three grown children, and is well-known in his small New Jersey town for his charitable work. But Andrew J. Rush is hiding a dark secret. Under the pseudonym Jack of Spades, he has penned another string of novels – dark tales of murder, lust and madness. When a court order arrives accusing him of plagarism, Rush fears his secret may be exposed. And unbidden, in the back of his mind, the Jack of Spades starts plotting his survival. Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates:'A writer of extraordinary strengths.' Guardian 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times

From the towering imagination of Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon and author of BLONDE, now a major motion picture, seven feverishly unsettling works of suspense.. A precocious eleven-year-old, in thrall to the mysterious black sheep of the family, climbs into his sky-blue Chevy to be driven to an uncertain, unforgettable, fate. A university student becomes obsessed with the murder of a female classmate as her own sense of self deteriorates. A recent widow grieves inside her lakefront home and fantasizes about transforming into a great flying predator – unerring and pitiless in the hunt. These meticulously crafted, deeply disquieting stories confront the dangers that surround us, and the dangers that lurk within. Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates:'A writer of extraordinary strengths.' Guardian 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times 'Visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute.' Booklist

From Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon and author of Blonde, now a major motion picture, comes a collection of darkly compelling tales. A young professor is convinced she's being followed, but when she confronts her shadow all is not as it seems. A promising student attempts to save her brother from his descent into madness, but finds there may be more to his world than hers. An elderly nun is found dead in her care home, but was it old age or dark secrets that killed her? These biting and beautiful stories force us to confront, one by one, the demons within. Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates:'A writer of extraordinary strengths.' Guardian 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times 'Visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute.' Booklist

From Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon and author of BLONDE, now a major motion picture, a collection of four dark and compelling novellas about love gone wrong. The young fourth wife of a prominent intellectual thinks herself happy until the first wife comes to stay. A shy teenager meets a dazzling kindred spirit. But the first sparks of young love soon take on a darker shade... A spoiled frat boy decides to murder his parents, only to be floored by the power of his mother's love; and a fragile woman reveals deeply buried secrets to her curious lover with devastating consequences... All of these stories are about love, just not as we like to think of it. Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates:'A writer of extraordinary strengths.' Guardian 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times 'Visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute.' Booklist

From the towering imagination of Joyce Carol Oates, literary icon and author of BLONDE, now a major motion picture, seven nightmarish and unbearably taut tales. Marissa is an innocent girl, with hair the colour of corn-silk. She does not hold others in strange thrall, as some young women do, she obeys her parents, she does not stay late after school, lingering on her walk through the swaying heads of maize. She is the perfect sacrifice. Twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, Oates presents an unbearably taut and terrifying tale combining the fury of folklore and blood sacrfice with the depths of adolescent insecurity in The Corn Maiden, a novella, followed by six other nightmares. Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates:'A writer of extraordinary strengths.' Guardian 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times 'Visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute.' Booklist

From literary icon Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde, now a major motion picture, comes a brand new collection of haunting and, at times, darkly humorous mystery and suspense stories. These are tales of psyches pushed to their limits by the expectations of everyday life – from a woman who gets lost on her drive back to her plush suburban home and ends up breaking into a stranger's house, to a first-person account of a cloned 1940s magazine pinup girl being sold at auction and embodying America's ideals of beauty and womanhood. Taken as a whole, the collection forms a poignant tapestry of regular people searching for their place in a social hierarchy, often with devastating and disastrous results. Rendered with stylish, fresh writing from an author who continues to push the envelope, the stories deftly weave in and out of a stream-of-consciousness to reflect the ways we process traumatic experiences and impart that uncertainty and uneasiness to the reader. The stories comprising Night, Neon showcase Oates' mastery of the suspense story and her relentless use of the form to conduct unapologetically honest explorations of American identity. 'Embracing the twists and turns of everyday American life, the author's latest short story collection is playful, gripping and disturbing.' Guardian Reviews for Joyce Carol Oates: 'Oates chillingly depicts the darkness lurking within the everyday.' Sunday Express 'Both haunting and sublime.' Literary Review 'Splendidly chilling.' Financial Times 'Visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute.' Booklist

Whitey McClaren är före detta borgmästare och en respekterad man i samhället där han bor. När han en dag stannar bilen för att hindra två poliser som brutalt misshandlar en man, slutar det med att han själv blir angripen. Den korta tid som återstår av hans liv tillbringar han på sjukhus, omgiven av sin hustru Jessalyn och de fem vuxna barnen. I Natten. Sömnen. Döden. Och stjärnorna. berättar Joyce Carol Oates historien om hur en familj prövas i svallvågorna av en tragedi, hur banden mellan familjemedlemmarna påverkas och hur var och en reagerar på sitt eget vis - mer eller mindre oväntat. Det här är en storslagen roman av en av vår tids största författare: en levande, inträngande och naken skildring av ras- och klassfrågor i dagens USA, om psykologiskt trauma, sorg, och att till slut gå vidare och bli hel igen. Joyce Carol Oates senaste stora roman, Mitt liv som råtta, blev en succé och nominerad till Årets Bok. Natten. Sömnen. Döden. Och stjärnorna. har jämförts med hyllade Det var vi som var Mulvaneys." Förutom att på ett ypperligt sätt gestalta dessa gestalters trauma och sorg och deras olikåstrategier för att komma vidare ger boken en lika trovärdig som skrämmande bild av det samtida USA:shantering av ras- och klassfrågor. Trots det mörka ämnet förmår Oates lyfta fram de komiska sidorna i sinstorslagna skildring inte bara av en familj utan av en hel nation." Inger Littberger Caisou-Rousseau, BTJ-häftet“En psykologisk studie över sorgens alla mekanismer (…) Det är beskådande och begrundande på det expansiva sätt som vi har lärt oss att förknippa med den amerikanska romanen, och inte minst med Joyce Carol Oates.” Jesper Högström, Dagens Nyheter"Natten. Sömnen. Döden. Och stjärnorna. träffar mitt i prick i denna rasklyftornas tid, liksom i porträttet av de spända familjerelationerna som många av oss kommer att känna igen alltför väl … Natten. Sömnen. Döden. Och stjärnorna. förtjänar sin plats längst upp i högen på nattygsbordet. En brinnande salut för Oates, vår mest framstående amerikanska romanförfattare, för denna roman." Star Tribune"Det här är en betydelsefull och beundransvärd ingång till Oates verk." Publishers Weekly"Det finns mycket att uppskatta i Natten. Sömnen. Döden. Och stjärnorna. ... Som porträtt av en familj och en nation är den humoristisk, tragisk och ibland mörk." Guardian"Oates när hon är som allra bäst." New York TimesJoyce Carol Oates är född 1938 i staten New York och är en av USA:s verkligt betydande författare. Oates har sedan debuten 1963 publicerat ett stort antal romaner, flera novellsamlingar, skådespel, essäer, poesi och kritik. Framför allt inom prosan har Oates utmärkt sig som en av de största inom den samtida amerikanska litteraturen. På HarperCollins har hon tidigare utkommit med romanen Mitt liv som råtta (2019) som blev nominerad till Årets Bok, och novellsamlingen Vackra dagar (2020).

I "Natten. Søvnen. Døden. Stjernene" settes familiebånd på prøve i etterdønningene etter en dyp tragedie. Joyce Carol Oates bruker familietragedien som prisme for å utforske dagens amerikanske samfunn. Den tidligere borgermesteren i en amerikansk småby, den viljesterke og populære John Earle «Whitey» McClaren, utløser en personlig tragedie da han prøver å gripe inn i det han oppfatter som et grovt politiovergrep. I kjølvannet av dette sammenstøtet, som utløser store bølger i livet til medlemmene av McClaren-familien, reagerer de voksne barna med sjokk og på uventede måter. Men den mest overraskende reaksjonen av dem alle er det hans sørgende enke, Jessalyn, som står for. Joyce Carol Oates' siste roman er en skarp og inntrengende analyse av rasespørsmål, psykologiske traumer, klassemotsetninger, sorg, og dertil en nær og varm familieroman av godt gammelt merke fra forfatteren av bestselgeren "Vi var familien Mulvaney".

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962), av Hollywood lanserad som den amerikanska Drömflickan, är förmodligen en av 1900-talets mest omskrivna kvinnor: ett resultat av hennes skönhet, sexuella utstrålning, talang som komedienn och sångerska, hennes trassliga privatliv, hennes nyckfulla personlighet. Och inte minst på grund av de oklara omständigheterna kring hennes tragiska död den 3 augusti 1962. Det blev årets nyhet, större än Kuba-krisen några veckor senare. Under de snart fyrtio år som gått sedan dess har många försök gjorts att teckna hennes levnadsöde: ett övergivet och ensamt barn utan fotfäste i livet, psykiskt labil mor, okänd far, fosterhem, trevande start som modell, en kanske alltför snabb filmkarriär – "Herrar föredrar blondiner", "Flickan ovanpå", "I hetaste laget", "Låt oss älska", "De missanpassade" – drogmissbruk, olyckliga kärleksaffärer och äktenskap, aborter och förtal. Den här boken är något helt annat. Den ger sig inte ut för att vara en biografi. Det är en storslagen och inlevelsefull roman på 862 sidor, där Joyce Carol Oates ger röst åt barnet Norma Jean, kvinnan och den undergångsdömda celebriteten. Ett närgånget porträtt av en känslig och begåvad ung kvinna som skapar och omskapar sin identitet på ett till sist förödande sätt. Isande inblickar ges i en filmindustri som både när och förtär sina offer, liksom långt ifrån smickrande bilder av de mäktiga männen i Monroes liv: f d baseballstjärnan Joe DiMaggio, dramatikern Arthur Miller, John F Kennedy och många andra. Om romanen Blonde säger Jeanne Moreau: "Joyce Carol Oates exakta och inspirerande skrivande ligger häxkonsten nära. Hon nystar mästerligt upp en mytisk blondins historia, den oerhört beundrade och föraktade Marilyn Monroe. Andlöst följde jag de tilltrasslade och passionerade känslor som omgav den ljuvliga och komplexa Norma Jean, vars bländande aura spred sig över hela världen och skrämde de män som älskade henne mest."

Perhesiteet joutuvat koetukselle syvän tragedian jälkimainingeissa. Oatesin tarkkanäköinen kerronta pureutuu tällä kertaa yhteiskuntamme pimeämpään puoleen. Yö. Uni. Kuolema. Ja tähdet. on vahva kuvaus perhetragediasta ja nyky-Amerikasta. Kun vaikutusvaltainen vanhempi kuolee, kukin aikuisista lapsistaan reagoi hätkähdyttävillä ja odottamattomilla tavoilla. Ja yllättävimmin käyttäytyy sureva leski. Joyce Carol Oatesin uusin romaani on yhtä aikaa intiimi perhetarina ja syvällinen yhteiskunnallinen kertomus, joka pureutuu rotukysymykseen, psykologisiin traumoihin, luokkasotaan ja suruun. ”-- Yksi Oatesin kunnianhimoisimmista romaaneista. -- Perheen ja kansakunnan muotokuvana romaani on sekä hauska että traaginen.” THE GUARDIAN