Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer born in Lockport, NY on June 16, 1938 (“Joyce Carol Oates Biography”). Her desire to write began around age three or four years old, when she made picture books to tell her stories because she did not yet know how to write; even though she loved reading and the stories themselves, her greater impulse was to be the author, the one in control behind the stories (Oates). Oates is an extremely prolific writer. She was able to publish two or three books each year while teaching full time and publishing a literary magazine with her husband, the late Raymond Smith; she currently resides and teaches in Princeton, New Jersey (“Biography”).
Oates is also the subject of scholarly literary critics, who examine her works through the context of her literary influences and sometimes-autobiographical nature of her writing. For example, John Teel examines Oates’s foray into the genre of mystery writing as part of an “anxiety about being ‘known’ through her books, her attempts to dissociate her private self from her author persona,” and discusses Oates’s love of privacy in general as a way of ensuring that her personal life will not detract from the impact of her writing (390-391). This disassociation may be because many elements of her fiction are based on her own life experiences; for example, in her book Because It Is Bitter, Because It Is My Heart, the town of Hammond, NY where the story takes place is based on her hometown of Lockport (Spencer and Oates 42).
Oates herself enjoys writing literary criticism, editing anthologies, plays, essays, book reviews, historical fiction, and non-fiction including autobiography and biography. Her first book, With Shuddering Fall, was published in 1964, and her latest work, Mudwoman, in 2012 (“Books”).
Although she is renowned for being prolific, Oates is famous for the realism in her fiction. Her prose style and characters draw readers in, the contrast of their experiences and personalities often showing a darker side of the American experience. This penchant for the darker side reflects her vision of reality more than it does any cynicism. She explains, “Uplifting endings and resolutely cheery world views are appropriate to television commercials but insulting elsewhere. It is not only wicked to pretend otherwise, it is futile” (Oates). The realism in her writing can be jarring for the uninitiated, but for her fans, Oates’s writing provides an unparalleled emotional experience.
Works Cited
Joyce Carol Oates Biography. Academy of Achievement, n.d.. Web.
“Books.” The Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. University of San Francisco, n.d.. Web.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Stories That Define Me. The Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. University of San Francisco, 1982. Web.
Stuart Spencer and Joyce Carol Oates. Joyce Carol Oates. BOMB 31 (1990): 42-44, 48-49.
Teel, John. Venturing into Genre (and Pseudonym): Joyce Carol Oates and “Rosamond Smith.” Journal of American & Comparative Cultures 25 (2002): 390-394.
Joyce Carol Oates Biography. Academy of Achievement, n.d.. Web.
This is a brief biography of Joyce Carol Oates. It includes information and dates concerning her childhood, beginnings as a writer, marriage, work, and other activities.
“Books.” The Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. University of San Francisco, n.d.. Web.
This page provides a complete and dated list of Joyce Carol Oates’s works, including those written under a pseudonym. It includes her novels, novellas, young adult books, story collections, poetry collections, children’s books, non-fiction, drama collections, and her anthologies and edited works.
Hattenhauer, Darryl. Dark Eyes on America: The Novels of Joyce Carol Oates. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 29(2) (2010): 498-500.
Hattenhauer reviews the book Dark Eyes on America by Gavin Cologne-Brookes. Although this is a book review, it offers an interesting analysis of the development of Oates’s writing over the years. The review also discusses the influences and styles of other writers on Oates.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Stories That Define Me. The Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. University of San Francisco, 1982. Web. http://www.usfca.edu/jco/storiesthatdefineme/
Joyce Carol Oates writes a brief psychological accounting of her life as a writer and her own attempt to analyze her life as a writer. She discusses her childhood passion for reading and writing, as well as experiences that made her value and view her home, the schoolroom, and library as places of “safety.” She also discusses why happy endings are “wicked” and the value of the literary community of American writers.
Stuart Spencer and Joyce Carol Oates. Joyce Carol Oates. BOMB 31 (1990): 42-44, 48-49.
Stuart Spencer interviews Joyce Carol Oates at the time her book Because It Is Bitter, And Because It Is My Heart is about to be released. They discuss some of the elements of this her latest book. Oates also describes some of her methods of writing, feelings about her characters in general, what constitutes good writing, her beginnings as a writer, and her interest in books like James Gleick’s Chaos.
Teel, John. Venturing into Genre (and Pseudonym): Joyce Carol Oates and “Rosamond Smith.” Journal of American & Comparative Cultures 25 (2002): 390-394.
Teel’s article analyzes the possible reasoning behind why Joyce Carol Oates chose to write her mystery genre novels under the pseudonym “Rosamond Smith.” His analysis includes quotes from Oates concerning her own discomfort with identity and authorship, as well as the frequent use of “doubles” such as twins or soul-mates in the mystery books.
