14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
focus on family relationships, March 31, 2009
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
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Extremely Satisfying Read, June 3, 2009
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
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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
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.
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