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Title details for Extenuating Circumstances by Joyce Carol Oates - Available

Extenuating Circumstances

A Treasury of Crime & Suspense Fiction

by Joyce Carol Oates
Hillary Huber
Audiobook
3 of 3 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
3 of 3 copies available
Two hitmen in a depressed rust belt town struggle with a job gone wrong. A girl witnesses a horrifying accident and carries it with her for the rest of her life. Medical students bring a severed foot to a college party. Five-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Joyce Carol Oates has made a career of exploring the forbidden corners of human experience, and the stories collected here, spanning her first three decades as a writer, are among her most unsettling and unforgettable works to date. Originally published in long out-of-print volumes, these tales have not appeared in any form this century-until now; formally fresh and endlessly experimental, they show a writer boldly engaging with disturbing truths and terrifying possibilities, and deconstructing the tropes and expectations of traditional prose writing as she does so. But beyond their stylistic ingenuity, these are creepy, suspenseful stories that cut straight to the bone; their darkness will linger long after the book's conclusion. A must-listen for long-time fans of Joyce Carol Oates and an excellent introduction for the uninitiated, the twenty-two tales included in Extenuating Circumstances exemplify the author's idiosyncratic spookiness, "visceral, psychologically involving, and socially astute" (Booklist).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 28, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781696608152
      • File size: 489123 KB
      • Duration: 16:59:00

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 25, 2022
      Nothing is as it first appears to be, and nothing can be taken for granted, in each of the 24 vividly told stories in this outstanding collection from Oates (Night, Neon: Tales of Mystery and Suspense). Highlights include “The Revenge of the Foot,” in which a college student carries out a cruelly satisfying vendetta, and “Queen of the Night,” a hypnotically seductive tale about a 50-year-old woman’s divorce and its unexpected and profoundly disturbing aftermath. “Ladies and Gentlemen” offers a decidedly creepy take on vacation cruises; “Family” presents a terrifying view of a dystopian future; and “The Undesirable Table” surprises when it takes a decisive step into metafiction. “The Girl Who Was to Die” makes the unsettling observation, “A life consists of many facts, implacable facts, you do not want to know.” Oates typically leads her readers to focus on one plot element, while subtly rearranging the emotional landscape, leaving them in exhilaratingly uncharted territory. Spanning the first 30 years of Oates’s writing career, these stories aren’t for the faint of heart, but they’re a joy for anyone who appreciates the work of a master storyteller. Agent: Warren Frazier, John Hawkins & Assoc.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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