Starr Bright Will Be With You Soon [Hardcover]

Starr Bright... is one of Joyce Carol Oates' shorter novels. This prolific writer, who penned this thriller under the name of Rosamund Smith, has once again succeeded in keeping the reader in constant suspense, even though we know who the killer is from page one. It is the killer's fate - as opposed to those of her victims - that we are so anxious to learn about. I recently attended a reading and book signing by JCO which was held at Robert Morris College in Chicago. She also spent considerable time in a question and answer session with RMC honors English students who read two of her novels for their class. She is a very fragile looking individual who intrigues everyone with her command of the story, the characters and the direction each piece of work takes. An extremely prolific writer, she has written poetry, plays and critical articles for numerous publications - in addition to over 60 novels and her work as a professor at Princeton University. She did not elaborate about the pseudonym she has frequently used - only that she wishes she had chosen another name. Because Starr Bright... is a shorter work, one does wonder if she has relegated certain efforts to Rosamund to distance them from Joyce Carol Oates. While I was thoroughly engrossed by Starr Bright - and it does utilize one of JCO's favorite underlying themes of twins - I felt I needed more at the end. We are fairly certain of the killer's fate, but what of her twin sister? The far-reaching effects of the murders to her family and community would, no doubt, be devastating. Perhaps it is fodder for another novel or perhaps tying up loose ends into neat little conclusions is not in the JCO style. Also, Oates does not hold back in the gruesome details of each attack - not necessarily a criticism, just a point of fact. Oates has just completed another novel (she writes constantly) and this one is a 1400 page opus titled Blonde, inspired by the life of Marilyn Monroe. She says she was moved to write it when she saw a photo of the pretty, fresh-looking and former Norma Jean - before the blonde hair, sexy clothing and voluptuous attitude she had perfected toward the camera. Seems like an interesting turn for JCO and her fans.

Hard to tell why Oates published this one under her fakename--I can see that the opening scenes owe a phrase or seven to themystery (thriller?) genre and that she's skimping a bit on character development. Compare this to, say, "Them" or "You Must Remember This" and, yes, we're not talking the woman's best, but this is still superb writing, especially in the second half... As the NY Times review proclaims this IS virtuoso stuff, particularly in the way that Oates/Smith delineates the attraction of the good sister and the bad sister for the hapless husband--Not only was he confused, I was confused. I find this suspenseful, elegantly written and a good bit better than some of Oates's "serious" efforts such as "Man Crazy" or "The Assasins." Indeed, the book's final page, brief and tantalizing as it is, suggests that her effort all along was far more provocative than she lets on. We're talking the delineation of personality here, in all its profundity and difficulty--a typical Oates obsession, and almost as well-handled here as in "Marya: A Life" and "Do With Me What You Will" if not "Because it is Bitter..." or "Wonderland". Enjoyable reading that, if you will let it, provokes a thought or two as well.

The book was riveting; I couldn't put it down. I couldn't help wondering, though, how "Starr Bright" never met ONE decent man her whole life? She was with dozens, maybe a hundred men, and never once met a good one?