Lovely, Dark, Deep

By: Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by: Jason Culp, Maggi-Meg Reed

From the legendary literary master, winner of the National Book Award and New York Times best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates, a collection of 10 spellbinding stories that maps the eerie darkness within us all.

Insightful, disturbing, and mesmerizing in their lyrical precision, the stories in Lovely, Dark, Deep display Joyce Carol Oates' astonishing ability to make visceral the fear, hurt, and uncertainty that lurks at the edges of ordinary lives.

In "Mastiff," a woman and a man are joined in an erotic bond forged out of terror and gratitude. "Sex with Camel" explores how a 16-year-old boy realizes the depth of his love for his grandmother - and how vulnerable those feelings make him. Fearful that her husband is vanishing from their life, a woman becomes obsessed with keeping him in her sight in "The Disappearing." "A Book of Martyrs" reveals how the end of a pregnancy brings with it the end of a relationship. And in the title story, the elderly Robert Frost is visited by an interviewer, a troubling young woman who seems to know a good deal more about his life than she should.

A piercing and evocative collection, Lovely, Dark, Deep reveals Joyce Carol Oates at her most imaginative and unsettling.

©2014 Joyce Carol Oates (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

celebrating human imperfection as the life's drama

after watching Joyce Oates speaking on masterclass.com, I was hooked. I believe true literature is an education on humanity and behavior, and Joyce shares a direly needed perspective in this regard.

every man who feels he is a man should read works by Oates. Ignorance invariably leads to prejudice and causes suffering, and I'd laugh at anyone who identifies as a traditional man who tells me that they know women. we live in a unique age where women have an unprecedented level of expression of their experience in society. Why not take the opportunity to expand our horizons and gain a deeper understanding of how our behavior can inflict misery invisible to us?

Plus the book is funny, subtle, insightful, critical, and above all, entertaining.

Very engaging stories. Lots of variety.

Joyce Carol Oates never ceases to amaze me. She can turn a story with such brilliance and knowledge of the human character. This one did not disappoint. Much variety from story to story. Excellent narration.

Definitely Dark and Deep

She lives up to your need for near poetic photo perfect details about life. Scenes which were handled well but were nearly graphic for my vivid imagination.
Well done.

Interesting Having Oates' Stories Together

Certain stories were riveting, and I definitely anticipated the endings. But many I found a bit lackluster, personally.
Still, Joyce Carol Oates is a favorite writer of mine overall, and listening to these reminded me why: she has a way of almost immediately locking you into her characters, and you find yourself invested in them, if nothing else.
I do think they could have picked mire than 2 readers.... for so many stories, their voices, IMO, became tired to listen to.

what?

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This just wasn't for me. All the shorts felt contrived and disjointed.

Would you ever listen to anything by Joyce Carol Oates again?

maybe...

How could the performance have been better?

the performances were ok

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

not that I can think of, really missing the foundation of beautiful writing

Any additional comments?

nope