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American Melancholy: Poems – The Legendary Author's First Poetry in 25 Years Exploring Loss, Love, and Social Consciousness
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2021)A new collection of poetry from an American literary legend, her first in twenty-five years Joyce Carol Oates is one of our most insightful observers of the human heart and mind, and, with her acute social consciousness, one of the most insistent and inspired witnesses of a shared American history. Oates is perhaps best known for her prodigious output of novels and short stories, many of which have become contemporary classics. However, Oates has also always been a faithful writer of poetry. American Melancholy showcases some of her finest work of the last few decades. Covering subjects big and small, and written in an immediate and engaging style, this collection touches on both the personal and political. Loss, love, and memory are investigated, along with the upheavals of our modern age, the reality of our current predicaments, and the ravages of poverty, racism, and social unrest. Oates skillfully writes characters ranging from a former doctor at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army hospital to Little Albert, a six-month-old infant who took part in a famous study that revealed evidence of classical conditioning in human beings.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published February 9, 2021
54 people are currently reading
4602 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
855 books9,673 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 162 reviews
December 31, 2021
Her first poetry collection in 25 years. To be truthful I wasn't aware she wrote poetry. She is a very prolific author, writes on various issues, stories, some I've loved, others not as much. She is though someone I admire because she also writes in many different styles, tones.
This collection is divided into four sections. Though many are not what people would recognize as straight out poems. Prose poetry, some read like short stories, snippets, stream of consciousness and some as the poems in the form most recognize. Some are expressly long and while I read them all, I did not like them all. She has as, I felt particularly cruel, although in your face honest, in her thoughts on Marlon Brando and even James Dean to a lesser extent.
This is one I liked, shorter and in recognizable form.
The Blessing
Barefoot daring
to walk
amid
the thrashing eye-glitter of
what remains
when the tide
retreats
we ask ourselves
why did it matter
so much
to have the last
word?
or any
word?
Here, please--take what
remains.
It is yours.
This collection is divided into four sections. Though many are not what people would recognize as straight out poems. Prose poetry, some read like short stories, snippets, stream of consciousness and some as the poems in the form most recognize. Some are expressly long and while I read them all, I did not like them all. She has as, I felt particularly cruel, although in your face honest, in her thoughts on Marlon Brando and even James Dean to a lesser extent.
This is one I liked, shorter and in recognizable form.
The Blessing
Barefoot daring
to walk
amid
the thrashing eye-glitter of
what remains
when the tide
retreats
we ask ourselves
why did it matter
so much
to have the last
word?
or any
word?
Here, please--take what
remains.
It is yours.
March 17, 2022
Reading these so intently that I hadn't finished my coffee before it got cold. These poems - so versatile- showcase the many sides of JCO (as well as her mastery as poet, something that does not get the recognition that she deserves.)
She can be gritty & raw-- "Harvesting Skin" but also contradictory-an odd comparison of "Doctor Help Me" a womans' myriad pleas to have an abortion, juxtaposed with "Bloodline: Elegy" and the Chinese practice of throwing infant daughters into the river.
I will not- and cannot- analyze these magnificent poems, some dark, with their vivid imagery & presences. She isn't just dark. She has the ability, with her blunt awareness to state truths humanity needs to see.
These stood out for me:
Obedience: 1962
To Marlon Brando in Hell
Old America has Come Home to Die
American Sign Language
And some that are light (these were my favorites)
Jubilate:an Homage in Catteral verses
Kite Poem
And the most poignant, brought tears to my eyes
Palliative
To quote from these poems is to rob them of being read whole for themselves.
She can be gritty & raw-- "Harvesting Skin" but also contradictory-an odd comparison of "Doctor Help Me" a womans' myriad pleas to have an abortion, juxtaposed with "Bloodline: Elegy" and the Chinese practice of throwing infant daughters into the river.
I will not- and cannot- analyze these magnificent poems, some dark, with their vivid imagery & presences. She isn't just dark. She has the ability, with her blunt awareness to state truths humanity needs to see.
These stood out for me:
Obedience: 1962
To Marlon Brando in Hell
Old America has Come Home to Die
American Sign Language
And some that are light (these were my favorites)
Jubilate:an Homage in Catteral verses
Kite Poem
And the most poignant, brought tears to my eyes
Palliative
To quote from these poems is to rob them of being read whole for themselves.
February 9, 2021
’...it is a slew of words in search of a container… a cooing of vowels like doves.’
This is a memorable collection of poems by Joyce Carol Oates that is separated into four sections:
THE COMING STORM
THE FIRST ROOM
AMERICAN MELANCHOLY
And
THIS IS THE TIME FOR WHICH WE HAVE BEEN WAITING
The first collection, THE COMING STORM includes poems with themes based on our collective past history, but these aren’t all poems that rhyme or necessarily have a rhythm that most people associate with poetry. Of this section, the poem that impacted me the most was OBEDIENCE: 1962
The second collection, THE FIRST ROOM starts out with a poem by the same name THE FIRST ROOM which I really loved, followed by THIS IS NOT A POEM which I also loved, and THE MERCY, whose final lines read:
The stroke
that wipes out memory
is another word for mercy.
Some of these narrative poems read more like a very short story, a message, some more like a commentary.
The third collection, AMERICAN MELANCHOLY begins with TO
MARLON BRANDO IN HELL, a strangely beautiful, if disturbing, take on the negative, destructive side of fame, as well as our willingness, or lack of willingness to offer forgiveness.
The fourth and final collection, THIS IS THE TIME FOR WHICH WE WERE WAITING the only poem was heartbreakingly real and my personal favourite: PALLIATIVE
Some of these poems cover some of history’s psychological experiments, man’s inhumanity to man, where others are on other disturbing topics, serving as warnings from the past, as well as a somewhat broad range of other topics. There’s a tangible sense of anger or indignation in some, and a sense of awe or love, or even reverence for the course of life, death and sorrow in others.
While this won’t appeal to everyone, and readers will love some of these poems more than others, I really appreciated all, and found many of these to be hauntingly beautiful.
Published: 09 Feb 2021
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Ecco
January 27, 2022
This collection made me realise just how subjective reading poetry can be. In 2020, one of my reading goals was to read more poetry, especially modern writing. Strangely, this helped me focus during the worst of our lockdown, resulting in me achieving a record reading goal that year.
Since then, I have always had it on my radar to read more poetry. While this goal is still very much a work in progress for me, I have started to develop a sense of what I like and what doesn’t work for me. And I can confidently say that ‘American Melancholy’ didn’t do it for me.
Joyce Carol Oates is a prolific writer, rather hit-or-miss for me. I must say I was unaware that she was a poet as well. Having recently enjoyed ‘Dearly’ by Margaret Atwood, I was keen to read ‘American Melancholy’ as well.
Oates is a much different kind of poet, favouring long-form poems that almost read like blocks of text. The writing itself is quite straightforward and almost stripped down, which seems like a stylistic choice.
I tend to enjoy experimental poetry far more and can understand how Oates’s style is likely to appeal to those readers, for example, who wouldn’t normally read poets like Tommy Pico. As a rough comparison, I suppose, it is like classical music versus jazz.
Many of these poems just fell flat for me. I also felt that some of the messaging was rather heavy-handed, if not a tad strident. A particular case in point is the rather bizarre ‘To Marlon Brandon in Hell’, which begins:
Because you suffocated your beauty in fat.
Because you made of our adoration, mockery.
Because you were the predator male, without remorse.
Yes, we get it. Just to make sure we do, Oates turns this diatribe into one of the longest poems in the collection. Another poem, ‘Jubilate: An Homage in Catterel Verse’, is just on the wrong side of twee to be entirely effective or convincing:
For I will consider my Cat Cherie
for she is the very apotheosis of Cat-Beauty
which is to say, nothing extraordinary
For in the Cat, beauty is ordinary
One of the most interesting poems for me was a dark meditation on the alchemy of the artistic process, which is often used to turn suffering, death and horror into meaningful lived experience:
This is what I hate.
I hate that the bullies & thugs of the world
who wound, damage, devastate others
are then by the dark magic of art
enshrined in the art of those others
who have survived, & whose survival is commemorated
in art
Overall, this is a sufficiently diverse collection in that one or two poems are bound to resonate with a wide range of readers. It is also a fascinating insight into the thought processes and artistic expression of a truly great writer.
Since then, I have always had it on my radar to read more poetry. While this goal is still very much a work in progress for me, I have started to develop a sense of what I like and what doesn’t work for me. And I can confidently say that ‘American Melancholy’ didn’t do it for me.
Joyce Carol Oates is a prolific writer, rather hit-or-miss for me. I must say I was unaware that she was a poet as well. Having recently enjoyed ‘Dearly’ by Margaret Atwood, I was keen to read ‘American Melancholy’ as well.
Oates is a much different kind of poet, favouring long-form poems that almost read like blocks of text. The writing itself is quite straightforward and almost stripped down, which seems like a stylistic choice.
I tend to enjoy experimental poetry far more and can understand how Oates’s style is likely to appeal to those readers, for example, who wouldn’t normally read poets like Tommy Pico. As a rough comparison, I suppose, it is like classical music versus jazz.
Many of these poems just fell flat for me. I also felt that some of the messaging was rather heavy-handed, if not a tad strident. A particular case in point is the rather bizarre ‘To Marlon Brandon in Hell’, which begins:
Because you suffocated your beauty in fat.
Because you made of our adoration, mockery.
Because you were the predator male, without remorse.
Yes, we get it. Just to make sure we do, Oates turns this diatribe into one of the longest poems in the collection. Another poem, ‘Jubilate: An Homage in Catterel Verse’, is just on the wrong side of twee to be entirely effective or convincing:
For I will consider my Cat Cherie
for she is the very apotheosis of Cat-Beauty
which is to say, nothing extraordinary
For in the Cat, beauty is ordinary
One of the most interesting poems for me was a dark meditation on the alchemy of the artistic process, which is often used to turn suffering, death and horror into meaningful lived experience:
This is what I hate.
I hate that the bullies & thugs of the world
who wound, damage, devastate others
are then by the dark magic of art
enshrined in the art of those others
who have survived, & whose survival is commemorated
in art
Overall, this is a sufficiently diverse collection in that one or two poems are bound to resonate with a wide range of readers. It is also a fascinating insight into the thought processes and artistic expression of a truly great writer.
October 1, 2020
This is the fourth publication this year alone that I've reviewed of the work of Joyce Carol Oates, but the very first book of her poetry I've read. Each of the other books was different in style from the others (a short story collection, a 4-part novella compilation, an 800-page masterwork novel). And these poems could only have been written by her. Almost all have been previously published in journals and respected periodicals, and her choice of material reflects her intrigue of and rage against what she perceives as injustice and what damage can be wielded from one human being to another, sometimes under the cloak of "doing good" through scientific experiment. I was particularly wowed by her insight into the life and experience of Marlon Brando and his wasting of his gifts. Again, I wonder, does she ever sleep?
September 6, 2023
〝because no one can know.
because they would hate me forever.
because they would never forgive me for shaming them.
because they would kill me.
because it was my first time, what he made me do.
because it was only that once. because it is not fair!
because I am afraid of how it will hurt to have a baby, I am so afraid.
because they will know at school. they will send me home.
because my grandma is very sick, it will be a shameful shock to her.
because I sam too old. I have my babies, I have five babies that lived. if there is another now I think I will die.
because I told my husband, it was a risk. because he did not listen.
because I hate him. because I am so tired.
because I am not well...
because I am out of breath and there is pain in my chest, sometimes I think that I will faint.
on the stairs at work I will faint, I will fall and everyone will know.
because if they lift me, and my shirt is lifted, they will see the belly, and the waist of the jeans that no longer snap shut.
because my husband will know it was not him.
because it will be the end of our family.
because I will have to kill myself before that.
because there is diabetes in our family, I am afraid to have a blood test.
because I have never been to a hospital. no one in our family has.
because we do not believe in blood transplants—(is that what it is called?)—the bible forbids.
because that father is gone. because he is not coming back.
because the father would kill me, if he knew.
because the father is married.
because the father has too many children already!
because the father would deny it, he would say that I am lying.
because the father would say it was my fault, that I did not stop him.
because he has called me bitch, slut when he was angry, when there was no reason.
because he would never love me again.
because I am too young doctor! because I want to finish school.
because I don't know how this happened. I did not want it to happen.
because it is the same man as with my sister.
because he is engaged to my sister. because my sister cannot know!
because it is a secret, he said he would strangle me if I told.
because I would loose my job. because I can't keep lifting heavy sacks, if they find out they will fire me.
because I won't be able to commute ninety minutes a day.
because I can't afford to lose my job, I will be evicted.
because I have three children already, they would be shamed.
because he is so old!
because he is too young, he is immature and shiftless.
because he went away into the army. because he could not come home out of shame.
because he is my best friend's father.
because he lives next door. because we would see him all the time and his family would see the baby.
because they would not believe me if I told his name.
because he is a "man of god", they would believe him, anything he said.
because he has made me promise, no one can know.
because it was not my fault!
because I did not want to be with him in that way but he made me to prove that I loved him. because if there is a baby he will never love me again.
because we might become engaged. if this goes away.
because nobody will love me again and I would not blame them.
because everyone who knows will speak of me in scorn and disgust. because they will say of me, she has broken her parents' heart, she is a
whore.
because I tried to do it myself with an icepick. but I was too afraid, I could not.
because I hit myself with fists in the stomach. because I was sick to my stomach, vomiting and choking, but it did not help.
because there is no hope for me, doctor. if you do not help me.
because god will understand. it is just this one time.〞
★★★★.5
covering subjects big and small, and written in an immediate and engaging style, this collection touches on both the personal and political. loss, love, and memory are investigated, along with the upheavals of our modern age, the reality of our current predicaments, and the ravages of poverty, racism, and social unrest. joyce carol oates is one of our most insightful observers of the human heart and mind, and, with her acute social consciousness, one of the most insistent and inspired witnesses of a shared american history.
this was my first time reading anything from oates and I'm officially obsessed. this collection left me speechless. I always find it hard reviewing collections because you always find some poems you don't really like but that wasn't the case with this one. all the poems give such a strong imagery; I was engrossed the whole way through. what I think was especially clever was the theme. it's very strong and you understand it right away but it's also really broad. there are a lot of issues with america both current and historical which helped every poem feel unique since it could take on a different problem compared to other collections I've read with narrower themes where all the poems almost start to blend together and feel like deja vu towards the end.
while I loved all the poems; I haven't been able to stop thinking about "doctor help me". I don't know what it is but it just struck me deep and have stuck with me since. the themes, the repetition, the imagery and all the different voices is just perfection combined. I've gone back and reread it multiple times and I just love it more for every time. it's a strong contestant for becoming my favorite poem even though I will never fully abandon winter rain by christina rossetti.
this collection is perfect for those of you who already love or want to explore modern poetry, like themes of politics and social issues or want something easy to understand to start of your poetry journey.
cawpile: 8.71
ig: @winterrainreads
because they would hate me forever.
because they would never forgive me for shaming them.
because they would kill me.
because it was my first time, what he made me do.
because it was only that once. because it is not fair!
because I am afraid of how it will hurt to have a baby, I am so afraid.
because they will know at school. they will send me home.
because my grandma is very sick, it will be a shameful shock to her.
because I sam too old. I have my babies, I have five babies that lived. if there is another now I think I will die.
because I told my husband, it was a risk. because he did not listen.
because I hate him. because I am so tired.
because I am not well...
because I am out of breath and there is pain in my chest, sometimes I think that I will faint.
on the stairs at work I will faint, I will fall and everyone will know.
because if they lift me, and my shirt is lifted, they will see the belly, and the waist of the jeans that no longer snap shut.
because my husband will know it was not him.
because it will be the end of our family.
because I will have to kill myself before that.
because there is diabetes in our family, I am afraid to have a blood test.
because I have never been to a hospital. no one in our family has.
because we do not believe in blood transplants—(is that what it is called?)—the bible forbids.
because that father is gone. because he is not coming back.
because the father would kill me, if he knew.
because the father is married.
because the father has too many children already!
because the father would deny it, he would say that I am lying.
because the father would say it was my fault, that I did not stop him.
because he has called me bitch, slut when he was angry, when there was no reason.
because he would never love me again.
because I am too young doctor! because I want to finish school.
because I don't know how this happened. I did not want it to happen.
because it is the same man as with my sister.
because he is engaged to my sister. because my sister cannot know!
because it is a secret, he said he would strangle me if I told.
because I would loose my job. because I can't keep lifting heavy sacks, if they find out they will fire me.
because I won't be able to commute ninety minutes a day.
because I can't afford to lose my job, I will be evicted.
because I have three children already, they would be shamed.
because he is so old!
because he is too young, he is immature and shiftless.
because he went away into the army. because he could not come home out of shame.
because he is my best friend's father.
because he lives next door. because we would see him all the time and his family would see the baby.
because they would not believe me if I told his name.
because he is a "man of god", they would believe him, anything he said.
because he has made me promise, no one can know.
because it was not my fault!
because I did not want to be with him in that way but he made me to prove that I loved him. because if there is a baby he will never love me again.
because we might become engaged. if this goes away.
because nobody will love me again and I would not blame them.
because everyone who knows will speak of me in scorn and disgust. because they will say of me, she has broken her parents' heart, she is a
whore.
because I tried to do it myself with an icepick. but I was too afraid, I could not.
because I hit myself with fists in the stomach. because I was sick to my stomach, vomiting and choking, but it did not help.
because there is no hope for me, doctor. if you do not help me.
because god will understand. it is just this one time.〞
★★★★.5
covering subjects big and small, and written in an immediate and engaging style, this collection touches on both the personal and political. loss, love, and memory are investigated, along with the upheavals of our modern age, the reality of our current predicaments, and the ravages of poverty, racism, and social unrest. joyce carol oates is one of our most insightful observers of the human heart and mind, and, with her acute social consciousness, one of the most insistent and inspired witnesses of a shared american history.
this was my first time reading anything from oates and I'm officially obsessed. this collection left me speechless. I always find it hard reviewing collections because you always find some poems you don't really like but that wasn't the case with this one. all the poems give such a strong imagery; I was engrossed the whole way through. what I think was especially clever was the theme. it's very strong and you understand it right away but it's also really broad. there are a lot of issues with america both current and historical which helped every poem feel unique since it could take on a different problem compared to other collections I've read with narrower themes where all the poems almost start to blend together and feel like deja vu towards the end.
while I loved all the poems; I haven't been able to stop thinking about "doctor help me". I don't know what it is but it just struck me deep and have stuck with me since. the themes, the repetition, the imagery and all the different voices is just perfection combined. I've gone back and reread it multiple times and I just love it more for every time. it's a strong contestant for becoming my favorite poem even though I will never fully abandon winter rain by christina rossetti.
this collection is perfect for those of you who already love or want to explore modern poetry, like themes of politics and social issues or want something easy to understand to start of your poetry journey.
cawpile: 8.71
ig: @winterrainreads
June 7, 2021
I've been knocking it out of the park with the poetry I've picked up of late.
Oates is perhaps less known for her poetry, but she's also one of my favorite poets. I love her interpretive poems on art. In this collection, she did Martin Johnson Heade's The Coming Storm, 1859 and Edward Hopper's "Eleven A.M.," 1926 - for instance. In her collection, The Time Traveler, her poem on Hopper's Night Hawks has stayed with me.
Her strongest in this collection, though, are "Obedience, 1962" about the Milgram Experiment and the searing and beautiful, "To Marlon Brando in Hell."
This is another one that I'll want to read again someday soon, but will be kicking myself because I haven't and won't.
Oates is perhaps less known for her poetry, but she's also one of my favorite poets. I love her interpretive poems on art. In this collection, she did Martin Johnson Heade's The Coming Storm, 1859 and Edward Hopper's "Eleven A.M.," 1926 - for instance. In her collection, The Time Traveler, her poem on Hopper's Night Hawks has stayed with me.
Her strongest in this collection, though, are "Obedience, 1962" about the Milgram Experiment and the searing and beautiful, "To Marlon Brando in Hell."
This is another one that I'll want to read again someday soon, but will be kicking myself because I haven't and won't.
November 28, 2021
Her first collection in twenty-five years, American Melancholy comprises poems that had been published in New Yorker, New Republic, Yale Review, and Kenyon Review among others.
Love, loss, and memory remain key themes, as in her 58 novels; however American Melancholy appears more personal in scope and meter.
In Palliative, an ode to her recently deceased husband, Charles Gross, she writes
... he'd been incensed - They took my soul from me
They took me to the crematorium, I saw the sign
Don't try to tell me I didn't see the sign
In This Is The Time For Which We Have Been Waiting, Oates includes William Carlos Williams' ("No man more loved our American speech") letter to his friend and editor, James Laughlin, as he was dwindling through a series of strokes; a great poet succumbs, words scattered yet optimistic "I hope I hope I make it."
The first snowfall brings chaos.
First the horizon disappears then
you disappear.
Love, loss, and memory remain key themes, as in her 58 novels; however American Melancholy appears more personal in scope and meter.
In Palliative, an ode to her recently deceased husband, Charles Gross, she writes
... he'd been incensed - They took my soul from me
They took me to the crematorium, I saw the sign
Don't try to tell me I didn't see the sign
In This Is The Time For Which We Have Been Waiting, Oates includes William Carlos Williams' ("No man more loved our American speech") letter to his friend and editor, James Laughlin, as he was dwindling through a series of strokes; a great poet succumbs, words scattered yet optimistic "I hope I hope I make it."
The first snowfall brings chaos.
First the horizon disappears then
you disappear.
February 19, 2021
Reflections and lessons learned:
“Even a women’s fur coat terrified me for how could I trust softness?”
A collection of poetry featuring critical as well as emotional analysis of identifiable psychological moments? Phwoar?! Classic conditioning, war, gun control and suicide, Such considered and unusual prose makes this author most interesting. I did end up with Borrell, J voice with me throughout though as it is true - all my life, watching... a state that I thought that was fairly static as the American dream ideal, but reflected that life sometimes has to have Borrell, J character
“Even a women’s fur coat terrified me for how could I trust softness?”
A collection of poetry featuring critical as well as emotional analysis of identifiable psychological moments? Phwoar?! Classic conditioning, war, gun control and suicide, Such considered and unusual prose makes this author most interesting. I did end up with Borrell, J voice with me throughout though as it is true - all my life, watching... a state that I thought that was fairly static as the American dream ideal, but reflected that life sometimes has to have Borrell, J character
August 30, 2022
I’ve read a bunch of Oates’ fiction which all pretty much comes under the same umbrella of exceptionally well written, relentlessly dark and disturbing and profoundly gloomy. Basically a literary equivalent of a bleak rainy winter day.
So it’s no surprise that her poetry is much the same. Same mod, same tone, different format. And, you know, less of a story. But good. Interesting. With a perfectly apt title. Worth a read.
So it’s no surprise that her poetry is much the same. Same mod, same tone, different format. And, you know, less of a story. But good. Interesting. With a perfectly apt title. Worth a read.
May 3, 2023
Joyce Carol Oates and her first book of poems in twenty-five years. Strong beginning, few of the poems were intense, but overall I didn’t resonate with her style.
April 26, 2025
American Melancholy is a slim book of poems best read while lounging in an Adirondack chair beside a still lake, basking in the quiet beauty of Americana. Once you finish, you may feel an almost irresistible urge to walk into that lake and not come back. Oates crafts such beautifully bleak moods that it’s genuinely disorienting — in the best way.
The title couldn’t be more perfect.
10/10, would recommend (I don’t even like poetry).
Disclaimer: There isn’t a lot of text, but be prepared to do a little Googling if you want to fully appreciate all the references tucked into these haunting verses.
The title couldn’t be more perfect.
10/10, would recommend (I don’t even like poetry).
Disclaimer: There isn’t a lot of text, but be prepared to do a little Googling if you want to fully appreciate all the references tucked into these haunting verses.
Read
June 13, 2023Loney
(”It’s the quiet
after gunshots you remember.”)
Edward Hopper’s “11 A.M,” 1926
(“She will give her new life five more minutes.”)
The Mercy
The Blessing
This Is not a Poem
Palliative
"Because the recklessness of adolescence is such elation, the heart is
filled to bursting.
Because recklessness is the happy quotient of desperation" p.47
(”It’s the quiet
after gunshots you remember.”)
Edward Hopper’s “11 A.M,” 1926
(“She will give her new life five more minutes.”)
The Mercy
The Blessing
This Is not a Poem
Palliative
"Because the recklessness of adolescence is such elation, the heart is
filled to bursting.
Because recklessness is the happy quotient of desperation" p.47
December 12, 2020
American Melancholy is an informative and driven compilation of experiences, thoughts, and insights of the author. Accurate and genuine, all the sensations that come with the little moments and the major events are brought to life through some of these poems.
December 2, 2020
An insightful and inspired collection of observations. True and honest, these poems bring to light all emotions that come with the small moments and the big events.
January 2, 2023
Quick, gripping read. Poems that flow off the pages. Thought provoking. Will return to read and study again.
July 5, 2025
I love JCO but I just couldn't finish this. Her desire to write prose strains so much against a poetry which then becomes so prosaic, overt, and inelegant. Some wonderful music present in the lines here but ultimately not enjoyable.
April 17, 2021
I like to spoof on JCO, but I gotta admit this is a pretty great collection.
December 2, 2021
This book was not at all on my radar until it popped up in the Goodreads Choice Awards nominees. While I will not rant here about how much I hate that they got rid of their write-in option and basically dictate you their selection now that were chosen after some fairly obscure algorithm while still calling them "Choice" awards, I will say that each year I quite enjoy scrolling through the lists to find something I hadn't heard of, especially in poetry because that is so underrepresented in the book world. That category has become very YA and Instagram poetry dominated so I was apparently so curious about one of the few actual poetry books that I checked it out from the library and read it right away with the potential intention of voting on it. Also, I quite like Joyce Carol Oates (at least on occasions, I have also read misses from her) but I didn't know she had published poetry.
Thing with "American Melancholy" was that I quite liked the themes and concepts of many of the poems but not the style. Oates' poetic way with words fell extremely flat for me, and you know that kind of matters in poetry. I found it weirdly repetitive and too simple in a rather underwhelming way, sometimes too choppy, sometimes too prose-like: it was not my cup of tea. As often with Oates there are some feminist touches but nothing too strong. She jumps around quite a bit with the topics which I found very interesting, the best part to me personally was that several of the experiments about loneliness mentioned in "Seek You" by Kristen Radtke (which I finished right before this) were also covered in here. I think the experiment poems were definitely my favorites, such a cool topic to cover in poetry. Abortion and American History find a spot but also more vague topics and then there was that strange cat poem... I also found the pieces connected to Germany and China a bit of an odd choice for something that has the unifying title of "American Melancholy".
I feel shockingly indifferent about this, putting together a review I can remember only very little about this and it has been only a few days. I actually waited a few days so I can sort my thoughts and say something worthwhile but I have hardly any thoughts on this. Which means was it worth my while? Likely not but I am not exactly disappointed that I read this either.
2.5*
Thing with "American Melancholy" was that I quite liked the themes and concepts of many of the poems but not the style. Oates' poetic way with words fell extremely flat for me, and you know that kind of matters in poetry. I found it weirdly repetitive and too simple in a rather underwhelming way, sometimes too choppy, sometimes too prose-like: it was not my cup of tea. As often with Oates there are some feminist touches but nothing too strong. She jumps around quite a bit with the topics which I found very interesting, the best part to me personally was that several of the experiments about loneliness mentioned in "Seek You" by Kristen Radtke (which I finished right before this) were also covered in here. I think the experiment poems were definitely my favorites, such a cool topic to cover in poetry. Abortion and American History find a spot but also more vague topics and then there was that strange cat poem... I also found the pieces connected to Germany and China a bit of an odd choice for something that has the unifying title of "American Melancholy".
I feel shockingly indifferent about this, putting together a review I can remember only very little about this and it has been only a few days. I actually waited a few days so I can sort my thoughts and say something worthwhile but I have hardly any thoughts on this. Which means was it worth my while? Likely not but I am not exactly disappointed that I read this either.
2.5*
September 14, 2020
I received an advanced reader's uncorrected e-proof of this book. Thanks to Edelweiss (actually funny cause I am Austrian and those flowers actually grow around where I live in the mountains).
I have never read anything by this author before, but as someone with an English lit degree and a lot of passion for poetry and an overdose of personal melancholy on the best of days (and especially when foggy fall crawls the lands) this book seemed like a good fit. And it was. The cover is also really beautiful, which kinda helps (as shallow as it may sound).
These are the kinds of poems you have to read aloud, I think. Maybe once or twice in your head to feel the words you are about to form, but ultimately you have to breath them into existence. And I loved that. There are different sections and different themes (no surprises there, it's pretty standard for poetry collections and the like). I really feel like this could be beautifully discussed in a literature cycle or book club on poetry night.
Most of the poems read more like mini stories. More so than other poetry does. I think it's because the poems actually tell you a story, not hint at one, not giving you a glimpse of something. They actually tell you a story. Whether it be Little Albert or someone or something else. Some other poems felt like streams of consciousness (of a more or less troubled mind). It was a weird mix, but it worked in a way.
To be fair, I was a bit surprised to read about Adolf Eichmann (Nazi) and the Holocaust in the poems. Overall, I was not quite sure where the specific American melancholy part of it all was. There was one specific chapter (I think it was the third one) titled American Melancholy. There was talk of the American film industry and specific places. I especially loved the poem "Old America has come to die". There it made sense. But overall?
I have never read anything by this author before, but as someone with an English lit degree and a lot of passion for poetry and an overdose of personal melancholy on the best of days (and especially when foggy fall crawls the lands) this book seemed like a good fit. And it was. The cover is also really beautiful, which kinda helps (as shallow as it may sound).
These are the kinds of poems you have to read aloud, I think. Maybe once or twice in your head to feel the words you are about to form, but ultimately you have to breath them into existence. And I loved that. There are different sections and different themes (no surprises there, it's pretty standard for poetry collections and the like). I really feel like this could be beautifully discussed in a literature cycle or book club on poetry night.
Most of the poems read more like mini stories. More so than other poetry does. I think it's because the poems actually tell you a story, not hint at one, not giving you a glimpse of something. They actually tell you a story. Whether it be Little Albert or someone or something else. Some other poems felt like streams of consciousness (of a more or less troubled mind). It was a weird mix, but it worked in a way.
To be fair, I was a bit surprised to read about Adolf Eichmann (Nazi) and the Holocaust in the poems. Overall, I was not quite sure where the specific American melancholy part of it all was. There was one specific chapter (I think it was the third one) titled American Melancholy. There was talk of the American film industry and specific places. I especially loved the poem "Old America has come to die". There it made sense. But overall?
February 15, 2021
a really interesting read! i found the first section "the coming storm" the most interesting & moving. the poems follow a myriad of famous psychological experiments. i also enjoyed the poems "marlon brando...", "this is not a poem", and "hatefugue". overall, i found the collection disconnected. while there was overarching themes, it still seemed like there wasn't a reason all of the poems were in the same book. i also found some poems.... well confusing. while the bloodline poem was beautifully written the one that follows "harvesting skin" read like a black mirror script with an in brackets plot twist at the end. the poem "american sign language" felt off to me but i would defer to d/Deaf and hard of hearing readers & poets on their opinions.
thanks to netgalley for the arc!
thanks to netgalley for the arc!
December 31, 2020
thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley! unfortunately this was not for me. i can’t bring myself to give it 1 star because i liked a few lines but it really meant nothing to me. the repetition of lines like “because...” in several poems felt meaningless and i think it could have done without them. subject matter felt confused and disorienting without any really message behind it. i’d still be interested in reading some of her novels but this form of poetry didn’t work for me at all. let’s say 1.5 stars for this one.
November 19, 2021
So I thought I would fly through a book of poetry without much thought but I chose Goodreads Choice Award nominee American Melancholy by Joyce Carol Oates. This slim volume was so packed full of emotions; sadness, anger, love, loss... Many of them I read twice because they were just that good.
February 16, 2024
I'm glad I ended up grabbing a Joyce Carol Oates book off the shelf last year at random because she's been an author I've found really appealing both with short stories and now poetry too! A lot of the poems in here spoke to me in ways that other poems didn't click before. I feel it's only a matter of time before I jump into one of her full novels--gotta see if she can stick it in long-form too (though I presume so)
My Favorites
- Little Albert, 1920
- Harlow's Monkeys
- Obedience: 1962
- Loney (specifically for the final line)
- This is Not a Poem
- Apocalypso
- To Marlon Brando in Hell
- Doctor Help Me
- Old America Has Come Home to Die
- American Sign Language
- Hometown Waiting For You
- Hatefugue
- "This is the Time for Which We Have Been Waiting"
- Palliative
My rating: 5/5
Would I own/re-read?: Probably
TW: Like a lot of JCO works, there are a lot of dark topics in here, especially about people doing horrible things to those they consider lesser (ie experiments on animals and children, references to rape and incest, harm to children, etc.)
Does the animal die?: Some of the poems inspired by real experiments--specifically Harlow's Monkeys--detail horrific things done to animals.
My Favorites
- Little Albert, 1920
- Harlow's Monkeys
- Obedience: 1962
- Loney (specifically for the final line)
- This is Not a Poem
- Apocalypso
- To Marlon Brando in Hell
- Doctor Help Me
- Old America Has Come Home to Die
- American Sign Language
- Hometown Waiting For You
- Hatefugue
- "This is the Time for Which We Have Been Waiting"
- Palliative
My rating: 5/5
Would I own/re-read?: Probably
TW: Like a lot of JCO works, there are a lot of dark topics in here, especially about people doing horrible things to those they consider lesser (ie experiments on animals and children, references to rape and incest, harm to children, etc.)
Does the animal die?: Some of the poems inspired by real experiments--specifically Harlow's Monkeys--detail horrific things done to animals.
November 17, 2024
The reason I haven’t given this collection a higher rating is because there is an even split between her poems that deeply affected me, and poems that were just forgettable. Oates is an academic, and I have issues with her poetry and writing style not being accessible (especially when certain words/references are just not necessary). But her ability to capture feelings of loss, death, neglect, and the rot of humanity is so powerful. I also didn’t expect there to be so many references to medicine and anatomy in her work which adds a whole new layer of rawness. Some of my favorites were exsanguination, old America has come home to die, harvesting skin, the tunnel, and palliative. The collection is also broken up into 4 sections, of which part 3 is my favorite because of the story telling (more prose poetry than traditional poetry. Dang Marlon Brando catching strays).
“After such struggle
you must love
the unrippled dark
in which the perfect cold O
of the moon floats”
“After such struggle
you must love
the unrippled dark
in which the perfect cold O
of the moon floats”
May 8, 2024
I had no idea the first section of this book would have a perspective on American psychology—that got me hooked immediately. Some of the later poems lost my attention, but overall she does a beautiful job capturing complex emotions related to modern day life.
November 17, 2025
Standout poems :
- Obedience 1962
- The First Room
- Apocalypso
- To Marlon Brando In Hell
- Too Young To Marry But Not Too Young To Die
- Hometown Waiting For You
- American Sign Language
- Palliative
- Bloodline, Elegy
- Obedience 1962
- The First Room
- Apocalypso
- To Marlon Brando In Hell
- Too Young To Marry But Not Too Young To Die
- Hometown Waiting For You
- American Sign Language
- Palliative
- Bloodline, Elegy
December 29, 2020
Great poems! They were compelling and most of them read just like stories.
Read
April 30, 2021A few of these absolutely stopped me in my tracks. "Edward Hopper's 'Eleven A.M.,' 1926 completely did me in. "To Marlon Brando in Hell" was such an intricate analysis of a man in poem form the likes of which I haven't read before. "Hometown Waiting For You" felt a little too much like my life.
Every now and then, poetry sooths.
Every now and then, poetry sooths.
January 25, 2022
Inaugural selection for the Poetry Book Club my dear friend Patricia and I are reading this year. And what a kick off. Oates delivers “1,000 small slashes” with her clear-eyed and unsettling assessment of American Melancholy. Poems which generated deep and interesting discussion included Exsanguination; Little Albert, 1920; Harlow’s Monkeys; Obedience: 1962; The Mercy; This Is not a Poem; To Marlon Brando in Hell; Jubilate: An Homage in Catterel Verse; A Dream of Stopped-Up Drains; Harvesting Skin; and Palliative. As a nurse and a scientist, the poems which considered caregiving and human experimentation were especially provocative to consider. Off to a great start! ✍️
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