A Joyce Carol Oates Patchwork
And certain to provoke a variety of reactions, an astringent but objective consideration of the difficulties that confront a (woman) writer—among them (men) writers, from whom Oates quotes with quite devastating effect.
Joyce Carol Oates has a preeminent place among the novelists and short story writers of our time, but she is also a poet, a playwright, and a brilliant writer of nonfiction as the present collection amply confirms.
The thirty-five essays in (Woman) Writer were originally published in the most diverse of sources—from Antaeus and Art & Antiques to The New York Times and Life—and the subjects show an astonishing breadth of interests—from “Moby Dick: An American Book of Wonders” to “State-of-the-Art Car: The Ferrari Testarossa.” There are significant studies of Emily Dickinson, Kafka, Robert Louis Stevenson, Hemingway, Charlotte Bronte, and Mary Shelley. There are dissenting opinions on Nature and on Food (the gourmet version). Appreciations of the watercolors of Winslow Homer and the boxing paintings of George Bellows. Vivid evocations of Budapest and Detroit. A portrait report on Mike Tyson and his chapionship bout in Las Vegas. And certain to provoke a variety of reactions, an astringent but objective consideration of the difficulties that confront a (woman) writer—among them (men) writers, from whom Oates quotes with quite devastating effect.
The quality of these essays is such as would make the reputation of any writer. In fact, Joyce Carol Oates is already a major literary presence entering upon her greatest period of fame and achievement, and this book should prove indispensable.
ContentsPreface: Occasions and Opportunities 
1. Does The Writer Exist?
2. Wonderlands
3. In The Ring
4. A Miscellany
5. Selves and Pseudonymous Selves
Acknowlegements
Awards
ReviewsImage: Winslow Homer, Adirondack Lake
I'm a Reference Librarian at the University of San Francisco's Gleeson Library, and I run the Joyce Carol Oates web site, Celestial Timepiece.
Celestial Timepiece 