Joyce Carol Oates

[bobblybear]

Has anyone read any Joyce Carol Oates? My library has loads of books by her, and they seem like my kind of thing, but I don't know which one is best to start with. They all seem a bit dark and twisted (from the blurb) which is not what I was expecting so naturally my interest has been piqued.

[Anna Begins]

I read some of her work when I was in my writing class during High School. I think her stuff sort of went over my head at the time, because I didn't like it. But I've recently bought one of her books on Kindle, to give it another shot- just haven't gotten to it yet. In my head, I compare her to Flannery O' Connor, but I don't know if that's an apt comparison. We read her short stories.

[bobblybear]

Sorry, it's taken me so long to respond. I forgot about this thread.

 

Thanks for the reply Anna....no idea who Flannery O'Connor is though.

 

Which one of Joyce Carol Oates' books did you buy?

[Anna Begins]

I guess, now that I checked, I only have the samples for High Lonesome and Black Daliah & White Rose, but I was introduced to her writings a lot in my high school class. Flannery O'Connor is just another short story writer. She mostly writes about (wiki describes her) as writing about morality and ethics, but when I think back on her writings, I think of dust lol. It was a good class, an alternative to the standard English course, I'm so thankful I took the class. It started my love of short stories and introduced me to my favorite writer, Raymond Carver.