Dear Husband,: Stories [Paperback]

Joyce Carol Oates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2010

Replete with the emotional intensity and pathos for which Joyce Carol Oates is lauded, these fourteen stories explore the intimate lives of contemporary American families: the tangled relationship between generations, the desperation of loving more than one is loved in return. In "Cutty Sark" and "Landfill," the bond between adolescent son and mother reverberates with the force of an unspoken passion. The gripping title story finds Oates boldly reimagining the true-crime story of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her children in 2001. Several stories offer a more lighthearted reprieve, examining with dark humor the shadowy intersection between self-awareness and delusion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The family ties that bind (and choke) are the overarching theme of Oates's grim but incisive collection. The title story takes the form of a rambling letter from an Andrea Yates–like mother after her infanticide is completed, detailing her belief that God has instructed her to drown her five little children who have not turned out right. A Princeton Idyll gives us a series of letters between a chipper children's author, granddaughter of a famous physicist, now deceased, and his sometimes sentimental, sometimes-bitter former maid; the result, in true Oatesian fashion, is dark family secrets and a good deal of denial. In Vigilante a son, struggling with his recovery from substance abuse, helps his unknowing mom by exacting revenge on his estranged dad. Special is told from the perspective of an elementary-school girl who moves toward desperate action watching her autistic older sister strain her parents' marriage and, worse, garner all their attention. Throughout the collection, Oates seamlessly enters the minds of disparate characters to find both the exalted and depraved aspects of real American families. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In these 14 melancholic stories, Oates unearths the unsettling and morbid side of American life. “Special” shows us the extremes of childhood sibling rivalry, while in “The Blind Man’s Sighted Daughters,” grown sisters face the inequities of their relationship. “Suicide by Fitness Center” and “Mistrial” both explore how middle-aged women cope with loneliness; in “The Glazers” and “Vigilante,” we meet two young adults in over their heads. The collection is wintry and dark, best read by the emotionally stable, as Oates spirals into the realities of death and the sadness of life. Although the stories are unsettling, Oates maintains intimacy and empathy with her characters. From the uncontrollable desires of a drug addict to the unwavering love of a mother for her child, Oates’ people are starkly crafted yet written with care. Like Oates’ We Were the Mulvaneys (1996), this novel reflects the author’s fascination with the demise of family life. Another significant chapter in the career of a prolific and consistently thought-provoking American author. --Heather Paulson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ecco; 1 Reprint edition (April 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061704326
• ISBN-13: 978-0061704321
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joyce Carol Oates is the author of more than 70 books, including novels, short story collections, poetry volumes, plays, essays, and criticism, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. Among her many honors are the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the National Book Award. Oates is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars focus on family relationships, March 31, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dear Husband,: Stories (Hardcover)

These fourteen short stories focus on family relationships that appear initially normal, but turn grim when a crisis occurs. Each tale is well written and insightful; with some shocking. For example "Dear Husband" is a letter from infanticide mom Andrea Yates explaining to her spouse she did God's work when she drowned their children. "Vigilante" focuses on a drug abuser son trying to kick the habit while helping his mom avenge his father. Though some aspects of the theme has been used often by Ms. Oates, all the entries are "Special" whether it stars an autistic child devastating the lives of her caretaker parents and her ignored younger sister or a juror attracted to a charismatic defendant in "Mistrial". Women forced to make difficult decisions that fail to go as planned in "Cutty Sark," and "Landfill," or meeting the boyfriend's family in "The Glazers,", are part of "Dear Joyce Carol Oates" entreating look at the dark side of the American family.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extremely Satisfying Read, June 3, 2009

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Husband,: Stories (Hardcover)

It is truly thrilling for a short story lover to be aware of Joyce Carol Oates and her ability to write the perfect short story. Contained in this amazing collection is 14 of them. Most importantly, she propels the reader into a blissful state, lost completely in the characters, dialogue and world of her storylines. Many of these tales possess themes of leaving a family or family member.

The first story, "Panic," is both frightening and heart-rending. It starts with the simplest of opening lines: "He knows this fact: It was a school bus." You will be hooked by the end of the first paragraph and will find yourself reading faster and faster, devouring each sentence quickly while not missing a single word.

The most fascinating story is "A Princeton Idyll," which ironically was published originally in The Yale Review. Through letters to her grandparents' maid, a now-43-year-old woman attempts to discover truths about her grandfather and his association with great minds of our time, such as Albert Einstein. You will not be able to help but reminisce about aspects of your life and memories of pleasant times spent with your grandparents. However, there is an underlying, ominous theme here that gets under your skin. Oates's incredible ability to tantalize readers with foreshadowing is legend. Hidden agendas, tidbits of juicy gossip and hurt feelings pervade these letters as well.

Although some of these entries are painful, deliberate and caustic, we are treated to the rare humorous story, like "Dear Joyce Carol." I won't give away the character description, but I will "leak" the scenario. Oates visits Boise, Idaho, on a book tour recently. A man who is unable to attend her talk writes to her through her publisher. All he wants is for her to autograph the picture that he cut out of the newspaper. He assumes that she will want to get to know him and his amazing life story, resulting in a novel --- and then a screenplay --- about his life. "We are Strangers across a thousand miles, and more, & how anxious I am, to hear from you."... "Hoping to hear from you very soon, your Special Friend." We learn more about him in each letter, as he becomes more anxious about receiving a response and that coveted autograph. This darkly humorous story is reminiscent of the writings of Stephen King.

The reader sees, somewhat quickly, that although someone might still be with another family member, they indeed have left them, or have been absent spiritually or emotionally. It can be a husband and wife, a mother and son, a father and daughter, or a sibling. The reader searches for a link and finds it, but not easily in some cases. In each and every case, though, it is certainly worth the hunt. DEAR HUSBAND is an extremely satisfying read.

--- Reviewed by Marge Fletcher

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We're a long way from Pleasantville, July 31, 2009

By 

E. Davis "E. Davis" (Bloomfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dear Husband,: Stories (Hardcover)

I liked many of JCO's novels, especially Them, Wonderland, You Must Remember This and We Were the Mulvaneys. I found Middle Age unreadable and Firefox an interesting failure. But the short story form is quite different and in many ways, more difficult to pull off than a novel. Most of these stories explore the dark side of the American family. We are treated to intimate looks at many dysfunctional families. The title story is enough to send chills down any reader's spine. The story, Magda Maria, put me off not because it is depressing, but because there is not one truly interesting character about whom we care. While many of the stories are on target, some are merely clever, lacking any substance, such as Dear Joyce Carol and Suicide by Fitness Center. Cutty Sark was never believable to me. Also, JCO is capable of some of the worst sentences I've seen in print: "His penis was a fleshy stub resembling one of those deep-sea worms that unfolds and contracts: unfolds to a startling length and glowers with phosphorescence , or contracts ignominiously into a tight little knot, swallowing itself up to elude predators." And then there is this: "I balanced my whiskey glass between my flat-sloping breasts and listened to Abigail speak in wayward feverish lunges like a marathon runner who has overexerted herself yet can't stop running, must continue panting and gasping for air until the collapse is complete." Yet it is this story (The Blind Man's Sighted Daughters) that cries out to be expanded into a novel (in my opinion). I kept thinking of John Milton dictating Paradise Lost to his daughters. I was also put off my JCO's excessive use of quotation marks for emphasis. Despite these concerns, many of the stories are powerful and hard to forget.

In A Princeton Idyll, a middle-aged woman writes to her former nanny to glean more information about her dead grandfather. This story demonstrates the truth of the adage, be careful what you wish for, you may get it. Mistrial seemed to me to be obvious and predictable until the very delicious twist at the end.

The world that JCO depicts in these stories is one peopled by depressed and suicidal women and mostly insensitive men. The collection is uneven and is strictly for her fans. I keep thinking about Dorothy saying "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." We're certainly not in Plesantville.