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The (Other) You
A powerful reckoning over the people we might have been if we’d chosen a different path, from a master of the short story
In this stirring, reflective collection of short stories, Joyce Carol Oates ponders alternate destinies: the other lives we might have led if we’d made different choices. An accomplished writer returns to her childhood home of Yewville, but the homecoming stirs troubled thoughts about the person she might have been if she’d never left. A man in prison contemplates the gravity of his irreversible act. A student’s affair with a professor results in a pregnancy that alters the course of her life forever. Even the experience of reading is investigated as one that can create a profound transformation: “You could enter another time, the time of the book.”
The (Other) You is an arresting and incisive vision into these alternative realities, a collection that ponders the constraints we all face given the circumstances of our birth and our temperaments, and that examines the competing pressures and expectations on women in particular. Finely attuned to the nuances of our social and psychic selves, Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates here why she remains one of our most celebrated and relevant literary figures.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2021
262 people are currently reading
5894 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
859 books9,694 followersJoyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews
February 20, 2021
These were interesting short stories ... each one more different than the next ....
but in a few ‘The Purple Onion Cafe’ appears in the story.
Those of us who live in Northern California are pretty familiar with “The Purple Onion Cafe”. Or at least in the South Bay.
It’s an over-priced but yummy yuppie cafe... with fresh organic salads and sandwiches.. coffees and baked goods.
Several of the characters meet at this cafe.
One story takes place in San Rafael... another in San Jose.
So...it’s always a joy to read stories from one’s home base.
All the stories were good - psychologically engaging.
A few of these stories were ‘very good’.... and our imagination lingers on past when the story ends.
A couple of the stories [‘Assassin’ and ‘Crack’] had an an ‘eeww’ factor.
I dare any reader to guess the ending of “Waiting For Kizer”...
CANNOT BE DONE!!!
There is chaos ...
compromise ... and consequences in these stories ....
dark themes ...of marriage, parenthood, infidelity, friendships, violence, travel, hopes, dreams, aging, death, and bonds of blood and love... that are threatened.
Joyce Carol Oats knows how to create disturbing graphic scenes one minute - then have you laughing another minute.
But mostly these stories are about dark... with longings for that what was loss.
The characters have pizzazz and personalities than range in age, scope, and
complexities.
The varied mix of stories were as original as originality comes.
A great new compilation, from the master storyteller... who hasn’t lost her punch at age 82.
Joyce Carol Oats is not only still kicking ass....but personally I think she’s getting stronger with age
I mean — how many Pulitzer Prize awards has she won?
Five, I think.
I’m left wanting to continue reading more of her ‘many’ books!
but in a few ‘The Purple Onion Cafe’ appears in the story.
Those of us who live in Northern California are pretty familiar with “The Purple Onion Cafe”. Or at least in the South Bay.
It’s an over-priced but yummy yuppie cafe... with fresh organic salads and sandwiches.. coffees and baked goods.
Several of the characters meet at this cafe.
One story takes place in San Rafael... another in San Jose.
So...it’s always a joy to read stories from one’s home base.
All the stories were good - psychologically engaging.
A few of these stories were ‘very good’.... and our imagination lingers on past when the story ends.
A couple of the stories [‘Assassin’ and ‘Crack’] had an an ‘eeww’ factor.
I dare any reader to guess the ending of “Waiting For Kizer”...
CANNOT BE DONE!!!
There is chaos ...
compromise ... and consequences in these stories ....
dark themes ...of marriage, parenthood, infidelity, friendships, violence, travel, hopes, dreams, aging, death, and bonds of blood and love... that are threatened.
Joyce Carol Oats knows how to create disturbing graphic scenes one minute - then have you laughing another minute.
But mostly these stories are about dark... with longings for that what was loss.
The characters have pizzazz and personalities than range in age, scope, and
complexities.
The varied mix of stories were as original as originality comes.
A great new compilation, from the master storyteller... who hasn’t lost her punch at age 82.
Joyce Carol Oats is not only still kicking ass....but personally I think she’s getting stronger with age
I mean — how many Pulitzer Prize awards has she won?
Five, I think.
I’m left wanting to continue reading more of her ‘many’ books!
February 24, 2021
So.. this is a collection of 15 stories that are on the dark side, that also asks, what if we had made other choices? What would our alternate destinies look like?
These are stories of remorse and violence, loss and longing.
I don’t know how she comes up with her ideas, but I think she’s brilliant!
She’s becoming a favorite author, and I just loved her novel especially! Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco for the ARC!
These are stories of remorse and violence, loss and longing.
I don’t know how she comes up with her ideas, but I think she’s brilliant!
She’s becoming a favorite author, and I just loved her novel especially! Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco for the ARC!
February 9, 2021
It's common for us to question what our lives would have been like if we'd taken a different path at a certain point or if events had unfolded in a different way. It feels like an intrinsic aspect of human nature to imagine what form this alternate self might take. Perhaps the past year of the global pandemic has provoked us to ponder this question even more intensely and reflect on the collective fate of humanity. What would our society look like if the virus hadn't indelibly changed our lives? Enduring questions such as these expand to more ponderous queries regarding fate and destiny. These are the poignant issues at the heart of Joyce Carol Oates' new collection of short stories “The (Other) You”. The book is divided into two distinct parts which elegantly mirror each other to say something much larger and more meaningful about these metaphysical questions.
The first part of the book includes creative and dramatic stories which primarily present characters caught in the question of alternate destinies. An American woman finds her solitary sojourn in Paris is disrupted by a man in an emergency. An adolescent girl twists her ankle and painfully makes her way home to find an ominously curious gathering of people. A husband who doesn't like to wear his hearing aid calls out to his wife and tragically can't hear her response. A professor embarking on his retirement revisits the Italian city he spent time in during his formative years to discover it's darkly altered. A woman uses her anonymity to assassinate a prime minister. These tales often include a psychological twist where the real world slides into the surreal and time is skewed so the protagonists suddenly find themselves in a markedly altered reality. It makes these stories thrilling to read both in their plots and the ingenuity of their narrative techniques. But they are also meaningful in what they imply regarding unexpected consequences if we were suddenly allowed to inhabit a different potential life.
Read my full review of The (Other) You by Joyce Carol Oates on LonesomeReader
The first part of the book includes creative and dramatic stories which primarily present characters caught in the question of alternate destinies. An American woman finds her solitary sojourn in Paris is disrupted by a man in an emergency. An adolescent girl twists her ankle and painfully makes her way home to find an ominously curious gathering of people. A husband who doesn't like to wear his hearing aid calls out to his wife and tragically can't hear her response. A professor embarking on his retirement revisits the Italian city he spent time in during his formative years to discover it's darkly altered. A woman uses her anonymity to assassinate a prime minister. These tales often include a psychological twist where the real world slides into the surreal and time is skewed so the protagonists suddenly find themselves in a markedly altered reality. It makes these stories thrilling to read both in their plots and the ingenuity of their narrative techniques. But they are also meaningful in what they imply regarding unexpected consequences if we were suddenly allowed to inhabit a different potential life.
Read my full review of The (Other) You by Joyce Carol Oates on LonesomeReader
August 22, 2020
Joyce Carol Oates never shies away from a challenge, especially if it's self-imposed. In this audacious collection, she addresses the trope of the Road Not Taken, but in such an original way, no one else could possibly have had the nerve to publish. Each story in this collection introduces a character who may or may not have led the life on the page. There is some linkage here -- a certain vegetarian restaurant is the setting for several of the stories, and an act of violence which may or may not have occurred has affected several characters across several storylines.
I've been a fan of Ms. Oates for over 40 years and am always intrigued, if sometimes as here bemused, at her choices, and at this point in her career, her willingness to explore new, uncharted genres.
I've been a fan of Ms. Oates for over 40 years and am always intrigued, if sometimes as here bemused, at her choices, and at this point in her career, her willingness to explore new, uncharted genres.
August 16, 2020
It’s difficult to explain my attraction to Oates’ fiction. It’s isn’t a sort of easy instinctual connection, it’s more along the lines of recognizing unquestionable levels of quality and superb levels of emotional intelligence in her writing and being drawn to that. Oftentimes I don’t care for her characters and I can easily understand how her fiction might be criticized by others…it’s got that certain elitist thing going for it that in the time of rampant idiocy has become such a terrible thing and so her characters are frequently of the professorial sort, the moneyed upper middle classes, etc. They are often inherently imperious in their ways, but the thing is…in Oates’ stories life cuts everyone down just the same. There are certain universal clouds that rain on everyone’s parades. In this collection they do so thematically. And the theme is undeniably attractive, the roads not taken, the myriad possible yous you didn’t become, the parallel universe options, the wasted potential, the regrets, the chances. The first 50% of the book is dedicated entire to that, wherein the realizations come theoretically or as direct confrontations. The last 50% also meditates quite heavily on the business of getting old, the terrifying prospect of entropy in action, as the characters contemplate the impermanence of things, the tragic senescence of existence. Not for turtles, go turtles, way to conquer senescence, you excellent slowmo weirdos. So there you go, that’s the basic idea here. In typical Oates fashion, this isn’t a happy read in any way, it’s profoundly bleak, it’s ideologically heavy. It’s whatever the opposite of easy reading is. But it is, undeniably, good. It’s a contemplative book, minds and souls laid out bare to understand, judge, relate to. Oates skins her characters alive, metaphorically. She can be brutal. She shines the light on all the murky corners of the mind where fears and anxieties hide. It’s uncomfortable reading. But then again there is that very specific degree of realism, of compassionate understanding of the difficulty of personal journeys no matter the socioeconomic circumstances…it all somehow succeeds in making you less alone in the world. Which is really one of the best reasons to read in the first place. So an objectively difficult read, but well crafted, intelligent good one, if you can handle it. Go in with mood set to low. Thanks Netgalley.
February 6, 2021
A book of short stories running along the theme of who we are and who we might have been. The book was a delightful quick read and the stories and lessons learned from them are thought provoking. The only thing is I do prefer Joyce Carol Oates full length novels. She does character in depth so amazingly well but she did a fantastic job with these short stories! Highly recommended!
July 12, 2022
Quindici racconti (il primo dei quali dà il titolo alla raccolta), divisi in due parti, pubblicati su varie riviste, citate dall'autrice nei ringraziamenti finali.
I primi otto racconti che vanno a formare la prima parte sono caratterizzati da situazioni paradossali e rispondono alla domanda "Cosa sarebbe successo se... ?" (che è un po' quella che usa Amélie Nothomb per costruire le sue storie). I sette racconti che formano la seconda parte, invece, sono accomunati da un doloroso fare i conti con il passato che lascia l'amaro in bocca: quella malinconia che pervade l'anima di chi è alla fine della propria vita e si strugge per ciò che sarebbe potuto essere e non è stato.
"A Yewville sei stata felice di fare una vita che non vuoi pensare sia una seconda scelta. Qui, infatti, la felicità si misura in modo diverso, è il meandro di un fiume impetuoso; qui la vita scorre più lentamente, ma forse è più profonda. (O almeno lo vuoi pensare.)"
In bilico tra il fu e il non è stato, le vite di ciascuno prendono ad un certo punto direzioni diverse. Ed è quello che Joyce Carol Oates descrive in "Aspettando Kizer": individui con lo stesso nome e cognome si incontrano. Sembrano la stessa persona, con vissuti un po' diversi. È lui e al tempo stesso non lo è.
"E quello di adesso cos’è, un altro sogno? Senti chiamare qualcuno, riconosci il tuo nome. Ti giri, ti avvicini e vedi te stesso, anche se non sei (esattamente) tu."
E non solo la propria vita è una questione di prospettiva, ma anche l'amore.
“L’amore è solo questione di prospettiva.” “Che significa?” “Che ‘amiamo’ le persone fino a quando non le conosciamo. Dopodiché l’‘amore’ perde colpi, fallisce.” “Io sono sicuro... io amo tantissimo mia moglie,” protesta (Matt) Smith. (Matthew) Smith ride e si schiarisce la gola. “Ripeto, è questione di prospettiva. Di vedere le cose a occhio nudo o attraverso un microscopio.”
In fondo, "Il tempo è un’illusione in cui “ricordiamo” il passato ma non il futuro. Come ha dimostrato la fisica quantistica..."
Joyce Carol Oates vuole mettere in guardia il lettore dal barricarsi nella nostalgia che avvelena l'anima, perché in questo modo la vita scorre senza essere vissuta, dando modo al tempo di giocare e vincere la sua partita con il destino degli uomini, tra accelerazioni stordenti e lentezze snervanti, lasciandoli isolati e soli: "Sono i rischi di una vita solitaria. Si muore da soli, e ci si rende ridicoli da soli."
Tra 4 e 5 stelle.
I primi otto racconti che vanno a formare la prima parte sono caratterizzati da situazioni paradossali e rispondono alla domanda "Cosa sarebbe successo se... ?" (che è un po' quella che usa Amélie Nothomb per costruire le sue storie). I sette racconti che formano la seconda parte, invece, sono accomunati da un doloroso fare i conti con il passato che lascia l'amaro in bocca: quella malinconia che pervade l'anima di chi è alla fine della propria vita e si strugge per ciò che sarebbe potuto essere e non è stato.
"A Yewville sei stata felice di fare una vita che non vuoi pensare sia una seconda scelta. Qui, infatti, la felicità si misura in modo diverso, è il meandro di un fiume impetuoso; qui la vita scorre più lentamente, ma forse è più profonda. (O almeno lo vuoi pensare.)"
In bilico tra il fu e il non è stato, le vite di ciascuno prendono ad un certo punto direzioni diverse. Ed è quello che Joyce Carol Oates descrive in "Aspettando Kizer": individui con lo stesso nome e cognome si incontrano. Sembrano la stessa persona, con vissuti un po' diversi. È lui e al tempo stesso non lo è.
"E quello di adesso cos’è, un altro sogno? Senti chiamare qualcuno, riconosci il tuo nome. Ti giri, ti avvicini e vedi te stesso, anche se non sei (esattamente) tu."
E non solo la propria vita è una questione di prospettiva, ma anche l'amore.
“L’amore è solo questione di prospettiva.” “Che significa?” “Che ‘amiamo’ le persone fino a quando non le conosciamo. Dopodiché l’‘amore’ perde colpi, fallisce.” “Io sono sicuro... io amo tantissimo mia moglie,” protesta (Matt) Smith. (Matthew) Smith ride e si schiarisce la gola. “Ripeto, è questione di prospettiva. Di vedere le cose a occhio nudo o attraverso un microscopio.”
In fondo, "Il tempo è un’illusione in cui “ricordiamo” il passato ma non il futuro. Come ha dimostrato la fisica quantistica..."
Joyce Carol Oates vuole mettere in guardia il lettore dal barricarsi nella nostalgia che avvelena l'anima, perché in questo modo la vita scorre senza essere vissuta, dando modo al tempo di giocare e vincere la sua partita con il destino degli uomini, tra accelerazioni stordenti e lentezze snervanti, lasciandoli isolati e soli: "Sono i rischi di una vita solitaria. Si muore da soli, e ci si rende ridicoli da soli."
Tra 4 e 5 stelle.
August 6, 2025
Me parece que el libro es irregular; no todos los cuentos me gustaron, pero solo por "Nightgrief" le doy las cinco estrellas y me quito el sombrero.
February 12, 2021
A superb collection of short stories that entertain as well as nourish the soul. This is the very best gathering of her stories I have read.
Library Loan
Library Loan
August 22, 2020
This is a very unsettling collection: most of the stories within it are like the dreams you have where you are in your childhood home, except wait, you're not, it's your childhood home but if you walk through that door you are in the home you live in now. Or maybe, in your dream, you are in the home you live in now, but suddenly you take a left turn down that hallway and you are in a place you've never been, that doesn't exist anywhere except in your dreams. Even more strangely, many of the stories feature second person narration ("you") so it's as though Joyce Carol Oates is actually describing your dreams to you.
The characters who populate these stories are confused, unsure of how they've ended up where they are. They are filled with grief, or with regret. They are melancholy, uncertain as to why but certain that they are sad. They miss their departed loved ones. The prose is suitably dreamy, yet exhibiting the assurance and control that is a product of Oates' impressively lengthy and prolific career.
The standout stories in this collection are "The Happy Place," about a professor who is far too invested in one of her creative writing students; "Nightgrief," about parents grieving the death of their child (this one was so accurate in its depiction of raw grief that it was difficult to keep reading); and "The Unexpected," about a famous author who returns to her home town to receive an honourary degree and give an author's talk at the local library, but none of it goes quite as she had hoped.
Oates has scattered throughout the collection a number of linked stories about encounters that take place in a cafe called The Purple Onion. I was fairly indifferent to the first couple of these, but the final installment, "Final Interview," is quite gripping.
I don't think this collection is for everyone--if you are looking for stories with plot, you will not find much of it here. I would say "The Happy Place" is probably the most conventional of all of them, but even that is not particularly plot-driven. However, on the whole, the stories are well written and compelling, and some--the ones I have listed above--are excellent.
Thank you to the publisher, Ecco, for an advance review copy via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. A version of this review also appears on my blog and on the Edelweiss+ site.
The characters who populate these stories are confused, unsure of how they've ended up where they are. They are filled with grief, or with regret. They are melancholy, uncertain as to why but certain that they are sad. They miss their departed loved ones. The prose is suitably dreamy, yet exhibiting the assurance and control that is a product of Oates' impressively lengthy and prolific career.
The standout stories in this collection are "The Happy Place," about a professor who is far too invested in one of her creative writing students; "Nightgrief," about parents grieving the death of their child (this one was so accurate in its depiction of raw grief that it was difficult to keep reading); and "The Unexpected," about a famous author who returns to her home town to receive an honourary degree and give an author's talk at the local library, but none of it goes quite as she had hoped.
Oates has scattered throughout the collection a number of linked stories about encounters that take place in a cafe called The Purple Onion. I was fairly indifferent to the first couple of these, but the final installment, "Final Interview," is quite gripping.
I don't think this collection is for everyone--if you are looking for stories with plot, you will not find much of it here. I would say "The Happy Place" is probably the most conventional of all of them, but even that is not particularly plot-driven. However, on the whole, the stories are well written and compelling, and some--the ones I have listed above--are excellent.
Thank you to the publisher, Ecco, for an advance review copy via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. A version of this review also appears on my blog and on the Edelweiss+ site.
March 20, 2021
Another great story collection from Joyce Carol Oates. In this collection she follows a theme of "the other you" or what would happen if you made different choices in life. This is a theme that I often enjoy in books or movies, whether it is tales of parallel universes or "what if" stories.
Many of the stories also had common elements, like a suicide bombing in a cafe, that popped out. One of the stories that stands out in my mind is "Waiting for Kizer" where a man named Matt runs into his "other self" Matthew, both men are waiting for their friend Kizer at a restaurant and discover their common name and other common things in their lives but there are significant differences.
I enjoyed the collection and recommend it to others. It's also available in audio format, so give it a listen!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
Many of the stories also had common elements, like a suicide bombing in a cafe, that popped out. One of the stories that stands out in my mind is "Waiting for Kizer" where a man named Matt runs into his "other self" Matthew, both men are waiting for their friend Kizer at a restaurant and discover their common name and other common things in their lives but there are significant differences.
I enjoyed the collection and recommend it to others. It's also available in audio format, so give it a listen!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
September 13, 2024
I like the way Oates writes, she has a great grasp on how people are and above all these short stories are great character studies. This short story collection is about the theme of "what if", and the different ways life goes and could have gone if other things have happened. Some of them are connected and it seems like they take place within the same world. The last story featured an author at a Q&A at her local library and that was a bit surreal to read, since I am reading this in preparation for an author talk I'll be holding in a couple of weeks.
December 26, 2022
Cos'altro ti è sfuggito, che adesso ti guarda in faccia?
La prima parte della raccolta mi ha lasciata fredda ,un po' interdetta...
tranne 2-3 racconti, però poi c'è stato un clic...nella seconda parte la scrittura di JCO, che sembrava restare molto in superficie nei primi racconti, quasi strabica, si approfonda, a volte in apnea, scandaglia il buio, le crepe ,i silenzi, i pensieri più cupi.
Come una promessa di definitività- il peggio che poteva succedere, che era successo, aveva il potere (o doveva averlo) di fermare il tempo.Ma il tempo non si era fermato.Neanche di un solo secondo
Tagliente , allucinato, angosciante
Tra 3 e 4 stelle
La prima parte della raccolta mi ha lasciata fredda ,un po' interdetta...
tranne 2-3 racconti, però poi c'è stato un clic...nella seconda parte la scrittura di JCO, che sembrava restare molto in superficie nei primi racconti, quasi strabica, si approfonda, a volte in apnea, scandaglia il buio, le crepe ,i silenzi, i pensieri più cupi.
Come una promessa di definitività- il peggio che poteva succedere, che era successo, aveva il potere (o doveva averlo) di fermare il tempo.Ma il tempo non si era fermato.Neanche di un solo secondo
Tagliente , allucinato, angosciante
Tra 3 e 4 stelle
January 10, 2021
Contents:
The (Other) You - 3
The Women Friends - 5
The Bloody Head - 2
Where Are You? - 3
The Crack - 3
Waiting for Kizer - 1
Blue Guide - 4
Assassin - 5
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - 4
Hospice/Honeymoon - 5
Subaqueous - 2
The Happy Place - 5
Nightgrief - 5
Final Interview - 2
The Unexpected - 5
= 3.6 ⭐️, or rounded up to 4 ⭐️
Any time I get to read an ARC of an upcoming Joyce Carol Oates release is exciting as she is my favorite writer. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for supplying me with an early copy!
Written around the loose theme of choices characters make/don’t make, these stories show how tiny decisions can make huge impacts on our lives. For the most part this theme is carried out successfully, though I wasn’t quite keen on what I think of as the “Purple Onion Trilogy”—three stories herein that take place at the Purple Onion Cafe and are loosely connected. Experimental and artful, the three stories (“The Women Friends”, Waiting for Kizer”, and “Final Interview”) range from intriguing to irritating. Oates’s over-reliance on parenthesis ruins what is already an uninteresting and bogged-down story in “Waiting for Kizer”, while “The Women Friends” is an effective commentary on middle-aged friendship with a tense, unexpected ending. I just didn’t find the Purple Onion to be a particularly gripping or interesting location, ditto for the main “event” (a suicide bombing) the stories are centered around. Maybe reading these so soon after the Nashville bombing left a bad taste in my mouth.
I think my personal favorite story here is “Nightgrief” which is about, you guessed it, grief: middle-aged parents deal with the emotional fallout from their young son committing suicide. The collection closer, “The Unexpected”, is another favorite: featuring a published, rather unfulfilled writer coming home for the first time in 36 years and having an epiphany? a breakdown? a chance at love for the first time? it’s up to you. “Hospice/Honeymoon” also stands out, with one of Oates’s classic heartbreaking endings—she does a lot with a little here. And there’s “Assassin”, a story with a conceit so bizarre—an angry woman beheads the British Prime Minister, and nearly falls in love with the head—and bleak one can’t help but laugh . . . when not holding their stomach from Oates’s wickedly graphic descriptions.
The (Other) You is a relatively uneven collection, sure, but what collection isn’t? The highs here are really good, and the duds I just won’t ever reread. Due out next month, this one is worth a look!
The (Other) You - 3
The Women Friends - 5
The Bloody Head - 2
Where Are You? - 3
The Crack - 3
Waiting for Kizer - 1
Blue Guide - 4
Assassin - 5
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - 4
Hospice/Honeymoon - 5
Subaqueous - 2
The Happy Place - 5
Nightgrief - 5
Final Interview - 2
The Unexpected - 5
= 3.6 ⭐️, or rounded up to 4 ⭐️
Any time I get to read an ARC of an upcoming Joyce Carol Oates release is exciting as she is my favorite writer. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for supplying me with an early copy!
Written around the loose theme of choices characters make/don’t make, these stories show how tiny decisions can make huge impacts on our lives. For the most part this theme is carried out successfully, though I wasn’t quite keen on what I think of as the “Purple Onion Trilogy”—three stories herein that take place at the Purple Onion Cafe and are loosely connected. Experimental and artful, the three stories (“The Women Friends”, Waiting for Kizer”, and “Final Interview”) range from intriguing to irritating. Oates’s over-reliance on parenthesis ruins what is already an uninteresting and bogged-down story in “Waiting for Kizer”, while “The Women Friends” is an effective commentary on middle-aged friendship with a tense, unexpected ending. I just didn’t find the Purple Onion to be a particularly gripping or interesting location, ditto for the main “event” (a suicide bombing) the stories are centered around. Maybe reading these so soon after the Nashville bombing left a bad taste in my mouth.
I think my personal favorite story here is “Nightgrief” which is about, you guessed it, grief: middle-aged parents deal with the emotional fallout from their young son committing suicide. The collection closer, “The Unexpected”, is another favorite: featuring a published, rather unfulfilled writer coming home for the first time in 36 years and having an epiphany? a breakdown? a chance at love for the first time? it’s up to you. “Hospice/Honeymoon” also stands out, with one of Oates’s classic heartbreaking endings—she does a lot with a little here. And there’s “Assassin”, a story with a conceit so bizarre—an angry woman beheads the British Prime Minister, and nearly falls in love with the head—and bleak one can’t help but laugh . . . when not holding their stomach from Oates’s wickedly graphic descriptions.
The (Other) You is a relatively uneven collection, sure, but what collection isn’t? The highs here are really good, and the duds I just won’t ever reread. Due out next month, this one is worth a look!
May 4, 2021
Abandoned at 50%. These stories just didn’t hold my interest.
March 23, 2021
I love anything by Joyce Carol Oates. With that said, I am more a fan of her novels than her short stories. However, this collection was woven together in a way that really worked for me. I loved the ideas within and between the stories. The imaginative way themes of time, alternative realities, love, friendship, aging, relationships and life choices were all compelling to read. I enjoyed the many ways Oates intertwined the "Purple Onion" stories together, each having a different purpose or part to play in the broader story. I really loved the reflections on couples aging together and the things we are proud to have accomplished or regret having done.
Overall, this was a well designed compilation of stories into themes that overlapped or played off each other. For all the Oates fans out there, this is a definitely recommended collection. I enjoyed these stories and their themes.
#TheOtherYou #Netgalley #Ecco
Overall, this was a well designed compilation of stories into themes that overlapped or played off each other. For all the Oates fans out there, this is a definitely recommended collection. I enjoyed these stories and their themes.
#TheOtherYou #Netgalley #Ecco
October 27, 2020
In this collection of short stories, Joyce Carol Oates looks at aging, grief and the idea of the other lives we might have lived had we chosen differently or had different things happen to us. The book begins with the author imagining her life had she never left her hometown, remaining to get married, run a bookstore and maintain and deepen her ties to that community. It's a different life, but not necessarily a worse one. That story sets the tone of the book, where widows grieve in complicated ways, men chase possibilities lost in the past and aging is confronted in a dozen different ways.
The same place shows up in a few of the stories; the patio dining area of a California restaurant at lunchtime, and Oates uses this setting to play with ideas about time and self. In one, a woman sits at a table thinking about a tragic event that occurred there, until she realizes that the event may not yet have happened. In another, a man is annoyed that the person joining him for lunch is late, then notices a man sitting at a nearby table who resembles him and as they talk they discover they share a name and are waiting for the same man.
This is only a collection that an author familiar with grief and contemplating the end of her life could write, and these stories are as sharp, imaginative and well-crafted as any she's written.
The same place shows up in a few of the stories; the patio dining area of a California restaurant at lunchtime, and Oates uses this setting to play with ideas about time and self. In one, a woman sits at a table thinking about a tragic event that occurred there, until she realizes that the event may not yet have happened. In another, a man is annoyed that the person joining him for lunch is late, then notices a man sitting at a nearby table who resembles him and as they talk they discover they share a name and are waiting for the same man.
This is only a collection that an author familiar with grief and contemplating the end of her life could write, and these stories are as sharp, imaginative and well-crafted as any she's written.
September 11, 2023
15 short stories full of tense and mystery. It explores alternate lives and realities, but not always in an obvious way. As is often the case with short stories.
¿What doesn’t work for me? too many stories on the same theme. Some were memorable but others not.
My favorites are: The other you & Waiting for Kizer.
This is such a trippy book. It's all short stories that are interconnected and each character makes a decision that changes the path they were on that ends up becoming a different version of themselves with a different destiny.
¿What doesn’t work for me? too many stories on the same theme. Some were memorable but others not.
My favorites are: The other you & Waiting for Kizer.
This is such a trippy book. It's all short stories that are interconnected and each character makes a decision that changes the path they were on that ends up becoming a different version of themselves with a different destiny.
March 17, 2021
There’s a list of Oates’s “story collections” before the title page of this book, and that list includes 42 titles, so this book makes 43 short story collections by Joyce Carol Oates. This list, of course, doesn’t include her novels, books of essays, poetry books, memoirs, etc. How can Oates, who typically churns out two books per year, continue to be so prolific in her 80s? She’s a freak of nature! And the quality of her canon remains outstanding--in some ways she has even sharpened her craft as she navigates her ninth decade on this planet. Many of her story collections are identified by genre (“tales of darkness and dread” or “tales of mystery and suspense”), yet some, like this one, are identified by theme (such as Faithless and Marriages and Infidelities). Lately Oates has published mostly “tales of mystery and suspense” or “tales of terror,” so this collection of stories based on the theme of choices and alternate realities was novel to me, even though I’ve read more than 50 of Oates’s books (if you include books written under her two pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly). I enjoyed all fifteen stories with their confused, baffled, and often tormented characters and their strange twists of plot that kept me on the edge of my seat and rapidly turning pages (I read all 15 stories in two days). Highly recommended.
February 20, 2021
I don’t really know how to review this book. Am I stupid? Do I just not get it?
The stories were so pretentious and I don’t understand the point of them. Every book you read is a novel of little “what if’s?” What if Jo married Laurie? What if Jean Valjean didn’t try to escape prison? What if Anne Shirley wasn’t orphaned? That’s what EVERY story is about. So for this one to claim it’s a collection of what if’s I was expecting something MORE.
The only section that actually spoke to me was the one on grieving a child because that is my biggest nightmare and I felt for the parents. Other than that I just don’t GET it.
The stories were so pretentious and I don’t understand the point of them. Every book you read is a novel of little “what if’s?” What if Jo married Laurie? What if Jean Valjean didn’t try to escape prison? What if Anne Shirley wasn’t orphaned? That’s what EVERY story is about. So for this one to claim it’s a collection of what if’s I was expecting something MORE.
The only section that actually spoke to me was the one on grieving a child because that is my biggest nightmare and I felt for the parents. Other than that I just don’t GET it.
March 1, 2021
The first, in this collection of stories, follows a woman who bought a bookstore. As much as I wanted to like this setting, it felt sparse and superficial.
My reaction to the second story was very similar. Two long-time friends are meeting for lunch. One is late, but that is not a problem. Given that they know each other so well, the conversation and the unspoken thoughts to oneself, did not spark significant interest for me. I was reminded of the phrase "phoning in your comments".
My reaction to the second story was very similar. Two long-time friends are meeting for lunch. One is late, but that is not a problem. Given that they know each other so well, the conversation and the unspoken thoughts to oneself, did not spark significant interest for me. I was reminded of the phrase "phoning in your comments".
October 20, 2022
"Das Unerwartete" von Joyce Carol Oates ist eine Sammlung verschiedener Kurzgeschichten/Erzählungen.
Im Vorfeld habe ich noch keinen Text der Autorin gelesen, obwohl "Blond" schon lange auf meiner Wunschliste steht. Umso gespannter war ich nun auf die Kurzgeschichten.
Normalerweise lese ich nicht ganz so gerne Kurzgeschichten, da diese selten Tiefe und Verbundenheit zu den Protagonisten vermitteln können. In "das Unerwartete" hatte ich selten das Gefühl, dass mir die Tiefe fehlt.
Jede Geschichte war so anders, so verschieden geschrieben und dennoch führten ein paar Geschichten ins "Purple Onion"-Lokal, jedes Mal mit unterschiedlichen Protagonisten, aber dennoch irgendwie die gleiche Umgebung.
Der Schreibstil war ebenso nicht immer gleich, Oates wechselte zwischen Perspektiven und Erzählstilen, was ich persönlich sehr gelungen fand.
Mich konnte nicht jede Geschichte gleich berühren, gleich begeistern. Dennoch fand ich die Sammlung an Erzählungen toll und habe jede Geschichte gerne gelesen.
Im Vorfeld habe ich noch keinen Text der Autorin gelesen, obwohl "Blond" schon lange auf meiner Wunschliste steht. Umso gespannter war ich nun auf die Kurzgeschichten.
Normalerweise lese ich nicht ganz so gerne Kurzgeschichten, da diese selten Tiefe und Verbundenheit zu den Protagonisten vermitteln können. In "das Unerwartete" hatte ich selten das Gefühl, dass mir die Tiefe fehlt.
Jede Geschichte war so anders, so verschieden geschrieben und dennoch führten ein paar Geschichten ins "Purple Onion"-Lokal, jedes Mal mit unterschiedlichen Protagonisten, aber dennoch irgendwie die gleiche Umgebung.
Der Schreibstil war ebenso nicht immer gleich, Oates wechselte zwischen Perspektiven und Erzählstilen, was ich persönlich sehr gelungen fand.
Mich konnte nicht jede Geschichte gleich berühren, gleich begeistern. Dennoch fand ich die Sammlung an Erzählungen toll und habe jede Geschichte gerne gelesen.
November 24, 2022
This must be one of Joyce Carol Oates most recent collections of short stories, since it was copyrighted in 2021. I have been a somewhat avid reader of JCO for a while and read quite a few of her collections of short stories. Invariably in her short story collections I find many that I enjoy, and a few not so much so this book was quite surprising to me in that I did not really find a connection to very many if any of the stories in this book. The overview is that it seemed to be an effort to look at alternatives in peoples lives, that they might have found themselves that had they not gone on their actual journey in life. The ever present question of what if you had gone down the left trail instead of the right way back went and found yourself in a completely different place. Although this notion and concept seems interesting on the face of it, I simply did not find anything in this book that significantly captivated me.
August 25, 2024
Loved these—a genius collection of the uncanny and liminal. They become otherworldly like a dream—gradually, unnoticeably and then as if the weirdness was always apparent. It’s a quite brilliant exercise in style.
Not to mention that the stories are linked, directly or thematically—an extremely cool reading experience.
Not to mention that the stories are linked, directly or thematically—an extremely cool reading experience.
February 12, 2025
« C’est tout ? » a été ma réaction à la fin de chacune des nouvelles
August 24, 2021
This is a truly remarkable book! And this is coming from someone who seldom reads short stories! A couple of the stories transported me back to my youth, or other times in my life, and I wound up remembering things I hadn't thought of in decades. One of them gutted me and made me cry like a baby. It was like she was writing about my life! I can't recommend this collection highly enough. I found it unforgettable.
January 14, 2025
Recensione a cura della pagina instagram Pagine_e_inchiostro:
🌟3,5
L’altra te di Joyce Carol Oates è una raccolta di quindici racconti che esplorano l’idea affascinante e inquietante del Butterfly Effect: risvolti di vite che avrebbero potuto essere, se solo una piccola decisione fosse stata presa diversamente. Il fil rouge tra i racconti non è esplicito: le storie sono collegate tra loro tramite lievi contatti tra i personaggi, eventi (accaduti o meno), oppure per i luoghi toccati dai protagonisti stessi.
La Oates gioca con l’elemento nostalgia e con il senso di rimpianto, facendo riflettere il lettore sulle implicazioni di percorsi non scelti, ma potenzialmente significativi. Sebbene le storie siano ambientate in una quotidianità moderna, non mancano tocchi disturbanti e inquietanti, che quasi sfiorano il surreale, per poi portare ad un apparente nulla di fatto.
Per chi si avvicina per la prima volta all’autrice, questa raccolta potrebbe risultare ostica: la scrittura qui risulta frammentata e i finali aperti non si prestano ad una lettura immediata, il che potrebbe frustrante a chi non avesse familiarità con lo stile e le tematiche care alla Oates.
Tuttavia, per gli affezionati lettori dell’autrice, questa raccolta offre un ritorno ai suoi temi ricorrenti: la critica alla società Americana, le sue contraddizioni, i desideri inespressi e le sfumature psicologiche dei suoi protagonisti. I racconti, spesso dal significato criptico, mostrano una realtà che non si lascia facilmente decifrare, invitando più che altro a riflettere sulle scelte fatte e su quelle mai fatte.
Chi conosce e apprezza lo stile della Oates, troverà in questo libro una lettura non facile, ma una conferma della sua maestria nel saper sondare le profondità dell’animo umano e le sue infinite possibilità.
🌟3,5
L’altra te di Joyce Carol Oates è una raccolta di quindici racconti che esplorano l’idea affascinante e inquietante del Butterfly Effect: risvolti di vite che avrebbero potuto essere, se solo una piccola decisione fosse stata presa diversamente. Il fil rouge tra i racconti non è esplicito: le storie sono collegate tra loro tramite lievi contatti tra i personaggi, eventi (accaduti o meno), oppure per i luoghi toccati dai protagonisti stessi.
La Oates gioca con l’elemento nostalgia e con il senso di rimpianto, facendo riflettere il lettore sulle implicazioni di percorsi non scelti, ma potenzialmente significativi. Sebbene le storie siano ambientate in una quotidianità moderna, non mancano tocchi disturbanti e inquietanti, che quasi sfiorano il surreale, per poi portare ad un apparente nulla di fatto.
Per chi si avvicina per la prima volta all’autrice, questa raccolta potrebbe risultare ostica: la scrittura qui risulta frammentata e i finali aperti non si prestano ad una lettura immediata, il che potrebbe frustrante a chi non avesse familiarità con lo stile e le tematiche care alla Oates.
Tuttavia, per gli affezionati lettori dell’autrice, questa raccolta offre un ritorno ai suoi temi ricorrenti: la critica alla società Americana, le sue contraddizioni, i desideri inespressi e le sfumature psicologiche dei suoi protagonisti. I racconti, spesso dal significato criptico, mostrano una realtà che non si lascia facilmente decifrare, invitando più che altro a riflettere sulle scelte fatte e su quelle mai fatte.
Chi conosce e apprezza lo stile della Oates, troverà in questo libro una lettura non facile, ma una conferma della sua maestria nel saper sondare le profondità dell’animo umano e le sue infinite possibilità.
October 25, 2020
As an English teacher, I've had the privilege of reading Oates work before, but as talented as she is, I'd never had an intimate experience with her work--until now. Some of these stories were horrifying. Some were woeful. Some made me question whether this whole book was going to end in a Deus ex Machina where the writer (or reader) wakes up and realizes it's been one long nightmare.
Yet, there were moments so REAL that that made me question my own life choices. First, there's my obvious connection to Marian Beattie. What if I hadn't stayed in my hometown and become an English teacher? Could I have been a prolific writer if I'd just given myself the chance? Next, there was my connection to the parents in Nightgrief. Not that my own teenagers have committed suicide, but there's always the what if fear living inside us. As a high school teacher, I've seen several cases where the nightmare became reality. Also, I identified with the professor who encouraged her students to write lies that become truth only to turn around and believe the lies. Just because my students grow up in a high-poverty area, I cannot assume ANYTHING to be true. Last, I felt such sadness for the professor and his wife following the Blue Guide. To think you can put off your dreams until the future and find them in the same pristine condition you left them in is the stuff of poetry-- not the happy kind--but the Langston Hughes rotting and festering kind.
Although this book won't give you a feeling of comfort and nostalgia, Oates has accomplished what most writers cannot by forcing you to see yourself as you MIGHT have been if only....
Yet, there were moments so REAL that that made me question my own life choices. First, there's my obvious connection to Marian Beattie. What if I hadn't stayed in my hometown and become an English teacher? Could I have been a prolific writer if I'd just given myself the chance? Next, there was my connection to the parents in Nightgrief. Not that my own teenagers have committed suicide, but there's always the what if fear living inside us. As a high school teacher, I've seen several cases where the nightmare became reality. Also, I identified with the professor who encouraged her students to write lies that become truth only to turn around and believe the lies. Just because my students grow up in a high-poverty area, I cannot assume ANYTHING to be true. Last, I felt such sadness for the professor and his wife following the Blue Guide. To think you can put off your dreams until the future and find them in the same pristine condition you left them in is the stuff of poetry-- not the happy kind--but the Langston Hughes rotting and festering kind.
Although this book won't give you a feeling of comfort and nostalgia, Oates has accomplished what most writers cannot by forcing you to see yourself as you MIGHT have been if only....
October 27, 2020
In this collection of short stories, Joyce Carol Oates looks at aging, grief and the idea of the other lives we might have lived had we chosen differently or had different things happen to us. The book begins with the author imagining her life had she never left her hometown, remaining to get married, run a bookstore and maintain and deepen her ties to that community. It's a different life, but not necessarily a worse one. That story sets the tone of the book, where widows grieve in complicated ways, men chase possibilities lost in the past and aging is confronted in a dozen different ways.
The same place shows up in a few of the stories; the patio dining area of a California restaurant at lunchtime, and Oates uses this setting to play with ideas about time and self. In one, a woman sits at a table thinking about a tragic event that occurred there, until she realizes that the event may not yet have happened. In another, a man is annoyed that the person joining him for lunch is late, then notices a man sitting at a nearby table who resembles him and as they talk they discover they share a name and are waiting for the same man.
This is only a collection that an author familiar with grief and contemplating the end of her life could write, and these stories are as sharp, imaginative and well-crafted as any she's written.
The same place shows up in a few of the stories; the patio dining area of a California restaurant at lunchtime, and Oates uses this setting to play with ideas about time and self. In one, a woman sits at a table thinking about a tragic event that occurred there, until she realizes that the event may not yet have happened. In another, a man is annoyed that the person joining him for lunch is late, then notices a man sitting at a nearby table who resembles him and as they talk they discover they share a name and are waiting for the same man.
This is only a collection that an author familiar with grief and contemplating the end of her life could write, and these stories are as sharp, imaginative and well-crafted as any she's written.
February 20, 2021
This is JCO's 42nd short story collection (!!!) and it is not her best. If you've read a ton of her work like me, you can expect some familiar things: aging professors, shifting realities, heavy-handed symbolism, industrial pollution, random acts of violence, deteriorating memory, swollen ankles, decapitation. Most of the stories fall flat and it didn't live up to the intriguing premise of "alternate destinies, the other lives we might have led if we'd made different choices." I would have rather watched Peggy Sue Got Married. The only story that struck me here was The Crack.
If you are looking for a good JCO collection, I would recommend Faithless or The Assignation.
If you are looking for a good JCO collection, I would recommend Faithless or The Assignation.
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