Joyce Carol Oates, or affectionately coined “JCO” by critics and fans alike, is perhaps the most prolific writer in contemporary American literature today. She published her first novel, With Shuddering Fall, in 1964, and since then has published 55 novels (including some under two pseudonyms), 19 story collections, and numerous poetry and criticism collections. She has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize once and the National Book Award five times, winning once in 1970 for her novel them. Her novel We Were the Mulvaneys was featured in Oprah’s Book Club in 2001. She won the National Humanities Medal in 2010.

JCO has been long-rumored as a favorite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. A number of her novels and short stories have proved controversial, as well. Her 1995 novel, Zombie, probed the mind of a serial killer (based on real-life serial killer Ted Bundy), and her 1992 novella, Black Water, fictionalized the Chappaquiddick incident involving future senator Ted Kennedy. Violence, especially against women and between family members, has long been a theme in her work, as well as themes of rural poverty, class tensions, sexual abuse and even the supernatural. A number of her works reflect her interest in the gothic and horror genres, including 1980’s Bellefleur and 1984’s Mysteries of Winterthurn.

First off, I am a fan of JCO. I remember discovering her novels as a teenager (hardly her target audience, I know) and really being impacted by both the themes recurrent throughout her work and her writing style. My own short stories were subtle mimics of hers for a while. That being said, it’s hard not to notice how some themes seem redundant. I remember thinking, as I read her last novel, “How many times has she written this same character and story?” The quintessential JCO character is a young woman in a lower to middle class family dealing with her own sexual awakening or any violence committed against or around her. 

Her novels can be long and, honestly, a bit tedious in parts. She is a master of creating atmosphere and utterly believable characters, and many of her short stories are perfect examples of how short stories ought to read. She has made an undeniable contribution to American literature, and deserves a wider audience and more critical acclaim than, I believe, she has earned so far.

Below are some of my favorites of hers. I haven’t read many of her works before the 1990s, however. The titles in bold are ones I particularly recommend:

• Black Water (1992)
• We Were the Mulvaneys (1996)
• My Heart Laid Bare (1998)
• Middle Age: A Romance (2001)
• The Falls (2004)
• Black Girl/White Girl (2006)
• The Gravedigger’s Daughter (2007)
• Little Bird of Heaven (2009)