List of the best joyce carol oates books, ranked by voracious. Jun 14, 2019 list of the best joyce carol oates books, ranked by voracious readers in the ranker community. Hollywood, signed books, biography oates, joyce carol author blonde a novel new york. Oates seems to project the image of an actress who is a natural, one who is defined by the parts that she.
Oates is a prolific author who has published over forty novels and has received many prestigious awards for. Joyce carol oates is one of those authors whose name you just know, not only because shes a prodigious writer but also because shes very active on social media and has become a legend in the literary world. But now we have joyce carol oatess ambitious 34th book to provide at least. Oates imagines the inner monologue of marilyn monroe as she started out as norma jean baker.
She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including we were the mulvaneys, which was an oprah book club choice, and blonde, which was nominated for the national book award. Lovely, dark, deep 20 published in dead interviews june 1017, 20. In the perverse manner all too typical of her singular career, oates follows up one of her best novelslast years plaintive broke heart blueswith one of the worst she or any other contemporary serious author, for that matter has ever committed to paper. Blonde is a bestselling 2000 historical novel by joyce carol oates that chronicles the inner life of marilyn monroe. Rosenthal award, national book award for fiction, brad stock award twice, chicago tribute literary prize, norman mailer lifetime achievement prize, stone award for lifetime literary achievement and the national humanities medal.
Apr 08, 2000 blonde joyce carol oates fourth estate. My introduction to the fiction of joyce carol oates is blonde, a radically. Published in 2000, this is fiction, with characters of the authors invention mingling with. But in joyce carol oates blonde, we see a woman overshadowed by her onscreen persona. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read blonde. Joyce carol oatess blonde is the definitive study of american. Oates is a prolific author who has published over forty novels and has received many prestigious awards for her fiction. Best joyce carol oates books list of popular joyce carol.
In this ambitious book, joyce carol oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of norma jeane bakerthe child, the woman, the fated celebrity and idolized blonde the world came to know as marilyn monroe. Buy a cheap copy of blonde book by joyce carol oates. I havent read joyce carol oates comprehensively, but the novels i really liked were you must remember this and broke heart blues 5 lindseyschaeffer dec 1, 2017, 4. In a voice startling, intimate, and rich, norma jeane tells her own story, that of an emblematic american artist. Veteran novelist joyce carol oates has taken the rich but tragic stuff of marilyns life the wretched childhood with a psychotic mother, the marriage at 16, the nude calendar girl phase, then sudden, capricious, baffling stardom and fictionalized it in a 700pageplus epic that microscopically examines every painful detail. Joyce carol oates born june 16, 1938 is an american writer. Joyce carol oates is a recipient of the national book award and the penmalamud award for excellence in short fiction. Particularly effective are her depictions of violence and evil in modern society. Though she has since won the national humanities medal. In her 1984 short story collection last days, oates examines the american experience in places such as berlin, poland and. In her most ambitious work to date, joyce carol oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of norma jeane baker the child, the woman, the fated celebrity and idolized blonde the world came to know as marilyn monroe.
Joyce carol oates books list of books by author joyce. See more ideas about joyce carol oates, books to read and books. Of course, joyce carol oates is a scarytalented author and i bow at her. See all books authored by joyce carol oates, including we were the mulvaneys, and the scribner anthology of contemporary short fiction. Jan 21, 2011 in her authors note, joyce carol oates explains that blonde is a radically distilled life in the form of fiction, not a biography of norma jean baker, a.
Oates insists that the novel is a work of fiction that should not be regarded as a biography. Novelist, essayist, and poet joyce carol oates was born in lockport, new york. In oates hands, the darkest corners of humanity are brought to life, turning our worst nightmares into pageturners and new york times bestsellers. Get cozy and expand your home library with a large online selection of books at. Oates published her first book in 1962 and has since published 58 novels, as well as a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. In blonde, joyce carol oates draws on the literary traditions of the fairy. Blonde by joyce carol oates books made into movies list. W hen, five or six years ago, joyce carol oates came to write blonde, a 939page reimagining of the life of marilyn monroe, the trigger was not any particular interest in monroe whom i. Blonde by joyce carol oates meet your next favorite book. In blonde, joyce carol oatesone of americas most prestigious and versatile writers, author of numerous novels and short fictionsjoins the ranks of those who have competed to tell the story of one of her nations most compelling legends. Blonde is a dazzling fictional portrait of the intricate inner life of the idolized and desired movie star as only the inimitable joyce carol oates could paint it. Jun 26, 2018 blonde by joyce carol oates what its about. With commercial success and critical acclaim, theres no doubt that joyce carol oates is one of the most popular authors of the last 100 years. New york times bestselling author of the falls, blonde, and we were the mulvaneys, joyce carol oates returns with a dark, wry, satirical taleinspired by an unsolved american truecrime mystery.
In fact, blonde is perhaps joyce carol oates most ambitious novel. A look at marilyns inner life flamboyant and confident, marilyn monroe oozed sex appeal. Dec 20, 2012 joyce carol oates is a recipient of the national book award and the penmalamud award for excellence in short fiction. When, five or six years ago, joyce carol oates came to write blonde, a. Through oates depiction of monroes life, one can truly start to understand at least how oates sees the inner pathways of monroes thought patterns. One of the most prolific american writers of the 20th century, oates counts historical. Presents analysis of selected significant works by oates, with a. Joyce carol oates books list of books by author joyce carol. It was a finalist for the pulitzer prize 2001 and the national book award 2000. Apr 18, 2020 joyce carol oates, pseudonyms rosamond smith and lauren kelly, born june 16, 1938, lockport, new york, u. It is surprising and shocking to realize that joyce carol oates, one of the great writers living today, has never made the new york times. A memoir 2011 joyce carol oates creates evangeline fife, who interviews robert frost.
Writing in highly charged, impressionistic prose, oates creates a str. From our archives revisiting joyce carol oatess short stories. She has produced so much work and on various subjects, but most of which focus majorly on intellectual, sexual and spiritual decline of modern america society. Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. List of the best joyce carol oates books, ranked by voracious readers in the ranker community. In her authors note, joyce carol oates explains that blonde is a radically distilled life in the form of fiction, not a biography of norma jean baker, a. Fifty north american stories since 1970, and more on. In this ambitious book, joyce carol oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of norma jeane bakerthe child, the woman, the fated celebrity and. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published 58 novels, as well as a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Oates published her first book in 1962 and has since published over 40 novels, as well as a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Joyce carol oates is a recipient of the national medal of humanities, the national book critics circle ivan sandrof lifetime achievement award, the national book award, and the penmalamud award for excellence in short fiction, and has been several times nominated for the pulitzer prize.
My introduction to the fiction of joyce carol oates is blonde, a radically distilled accounting of the life and death of norma jeane baker, who exploded onto screens and magazine spreads in 1950 as marilyn monroe, became a global sex symbol and almost as quickly, exited the world in a drug overdose. A list of all of joyce carol oates books, and how others view them. I am not particularly interested in marilyn monroe i saw her movies as they came out. Shes an incredible novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and activist, and is also one of those prolific authors whose bibliography has its own wikipedia page. Published twenty years ago, a fierce novel about marilyn monroe finds a new. Yeats 1969 of the modern poets yeats is the most formidable, most alarming and mad reading his work, one resists it, resists his personality, fearful of succumbing to something harsh and demonic in it.
Joyce carol oates, pseudonyms rosamond smith and lauren kelly, born june 16, 1938, lockport, new york, u. Dramatic, provocative and unsettlingly suggestive, blonde is as much a bombshell as its protagonist, the legendary marilyn monroe. Sep 03, 2004 w hen, five or six years ago, joyce carol oates came to write blonde, a 939page reimagining of the life of marilyn monroe, the trigger was not any particular interest in monroe whom i. They own vast lands and profitable businesses, they employ their neighbors, and they influence the government. Its a bloated, humorless fictional speculation on the life and career of marilyn monroe that mixes together canned us and film history. She earned a ba from syracuse university, where she graduated valedictorian, and an ma from the university of wisconsinmadison. A wealthy and notorious clan, the bellefleurs live in a region not unlike the adirondacks, in an enormous mansion on the shores of mythic lake noir. It is to joyce carol oatess credit that she acknowledges in an authors note the books that most influenced her interpretation of. The list youre viewing has a variety of books, like black water and blonde, in it. An image of a woman marilyn monroe is enclosed within a ruled border and is giltstamped to the front and rear boards.