Dear Husband,: Stories

By Joyce Carol Oates

Book Overview

" Oates] has once again held a haunting mirror up to America, revealing who we are." -- Boston Globe The inimitable Joyce Carol Oates returns with Dear Husband --a gripping and moving story collection that powerfully re-imagines the meaning of family in America, often through violent means. Oates, a former recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction--as well as the National Book Award, Prix Femina, and numerous other literary honors--dazzles and disturbs with an outstanding compilation the Washington Post calls, "Savage, poetic and ruthless...among the best things she's ever done." Dear Husband is another triumph for the author of The Gravedigger's Daughter, We Were the Mulvaneys, and Blonde .

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061704318
• ISBN13: 9780061704314
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Ecco
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.1" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Joyce Carol Oates

Oates has never written a story or novel that I did not love. She has a way of describing a character's innermost self that is rivaled only by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I cannot recommend her novels and stories highly enough.

First time reading Joyce Carol Oats

First time reading Joyce Carol and I am smitten. She had me at the very first story 'Panic'. I am in awe of her keen observation..like her use of the word aggressively 'elegant' in Cutty Sark. The tongue-in-cheek way she names the suburbia township "Whispering Woods Estates' the pride of the upward moving lower middle class family on their move to the aforementioned "Estates" By the way, my excessive use of "-" in this review is a humble homage to the author who seems to relishes her use of quotation marks. Joyce has her razor sharp pen at the jugular of the twenty first century American family and suffice to say she shows no mercy-Thank God.

Five stars as usual...drum roll, please...

My husband says there is "another woman" in our household: JCO. We are always discussing her latest oeuvre...and the author (fondly) whom we consider a member of the family at this point. As a writer and avid reader I have decided that I need only read JCO for my daily literary all-in-one requirement. Yesterday, for example, I took the short story "Mistrial" three times: with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had read all the stories through, but "Mistrial" is my absolute fave. I ADORE stories about librarians with a jones for psychopaths, especially when the librarians are borderline crazy themselves. What was especially cute about this story was that I had the feeling that JCO was describing a sort of crazy side of herself. That's what I mean about us "living" with JCO. Though each novel and story is unique and about some of the strangest people on the literary planet, we feel that, through her writing, we have gotten to know JCO intimately. Don't try to dodge the autobiographical question, dear author. We know it's you in there. Love, US.

An Extremely Satisfying Read

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

focus on family relationships

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