Synopses & Reviews
A
New York Times Editors' Choice
"Suspense fiction is like a powerful drug: one page, one taste, can induce such a tingly, speedy feeling that it takes an almost superhuman effort not to finish everything off in just one sitting. At least, thats how it is with Joyce Carol Oatess new collection."The New York Times Book Review
A young wife is home alone when the phone rings in "So Help Me God." Is the strange voice flirting with her from the other end of the line her jealous husband laying a trap, or a stranger who knows entirely too much about her? In "Madison at Guignol" an unhappy fashionista discovers a secret door inside her favorite clothing store and insists the staff let her enter. But even her fevered imagination cannot anticipate the horror they have been hiding from her. In these and other gripping and disturbing tales, Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates why the females of the speciesbe they six-year-old girls, seemingly devoted wives, or aging mothersare by nature more deadly than the males.
"As ever, Oates shocks, delights and amuses because she's so good at what she does."The Baltimore Sun
"With the protagonists in The Female of the Species, [Oates is] at the top of her form . . . Nobody does that kind of well-written spookiness quite like Oates."St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Joyce Carol Oates is the recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the winner of the National Book Award. Among her major works are We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, and The Falls. She lives in New Jersey.
An Otto Penzler Book
Review
"Mystery and horror fans are most likely to relish this collection, which works best as a source of cheap thrills....Even as you're wishing you could, you can't put this book down." Hillary Frey, New York Times Book Review
Review
"For four decades, Oates has rendered razor-sharp tales of marginalized lives. This latest collection...is no exception....Oates' prose is luminous, but some readers might find her femmes a bit too fatale." Booklist
Review
"Those who can weather the Oates tics (the overused parentheses; the words that repeat, repeat, repeat; all those candles and flames) will savor this clever mind stooping to middlebrow level. Others may reach for the work of Celia Fremlin or Ruth Rendell." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"The suspense, the realism and the immediacy of the characters are the strong points of Oates' stories. Yet the collection is unquestionably Gothic, dark and disturbing. It is not intended for readers seeking life-affirming truths." Minneapolis Star Tribune
Review
"Although Oates is a gifted writer and the language of her stories has the same luminescence of her award-winning novels, she often falls prey to the pitfalls of more pedestrian horror writers." Rocky Mountain News
Synopsis
A young wife is home alone when the phone rings in "So Help Me God." Is the strange voice flirting with her from the other end of the line her jealous husband laying a trap, or a stranger who knows entirely too much about her? In "Madison at Guignol" an unhappy fashionista discovers a secret door inside her favorite clothing store and insists the staff let her enter. But even her fevered imagination cannot anticipate the horror they have been hiding from her. In these and other gripping and disturbing tales, women are confronted by the evil around them and surprised by the evil they find within themselves.
With wicked insight, Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates why the females of the species be they six-year-old girls, seemingly devoted wives, or aging mothers are by nature more deadly than the males.
Synopsis
A collection of short works by the author of We Were the Mulvaneys includes "So Help Me God," in which a young wife wonders about the identity of a flirtatious caller, and "Madison at Guignol," in which an unhappy fashionista discovers a horrendous secret at her favorite clothing store. Reprint.
Synopsis
In these gripping and disturbing tales, women are confronted by the evil around them and surprised by the evil they find within themselves. With wicked insight, Oates demonstrates why the females of the species are by nature more deadly than the males.
About the Author
Joyce Carol Oates is the recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and the winner of the National Book Award. Among her major works are We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, and The Falls. She lives in New Jersey.
Table of Contents
So Help Me God
The Banshee
Doll: A Romance of the Mississippi
Madison at Guignol
The Haunting
Hunger
Tell Me You Forgive Me?
Angel of Wrath
Angel of Mercy