Wonderland: Amazon.ca: Joyce Carol Oates: Books

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Our review of Oates's 1971 masterpiece starring Jesse Vogel, reissued here with a new afterword, concluded: " 'Wonderland' is not a place from which one escapes unscathed but for those who care about the best in American fiction it must be visited.' "
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

Originally published in 1971, the gripping story of Jesse Vogel, a neurosurgeon whose boyhood has been shattered by the tragic loss of his family. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Oates' Best - A World of Constant Battles, Mar 23 2004

By	Jack M. Walter "Jack M. Walter" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

I originally read Wonderland when I was a teenager and remembered only a little of it, so it was a revelation when I read it again a few weeks ago. This is a study of one human being and the torments he endures at the hands of others as he grows up, and how it damages his personality. However, Jesse seemingly prevails, and by the novel's end shows us that the human spirit is never completely extinguished. Jesse is such a real character I expect to see him as a flesh and blood person one day. No doubt, this is JCO's best work.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, Fascinating, Amazing, Sep 29 2001

By	Robert Miller (Eastern USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wonderland A Novel (Paperback)

In 1975, I was reading Joyce Carol Oates "Them", when my classmate Lenny noticed it. His reply to me was "Get Wonderland". I took his advice. Wonderland is fabulous. This reader simply couldn't put it down. It is a fascinating story of a doctor from his poor childhood in NY State during the depression through the end of the 1960's. The characters are so real - from the freaks in the doctor's adoptive family, through his heroin-addicted friend who becomes a hippie cult figure. I have since read most of Oates' books, but Wonderland IS my favorite. Joyce Carol Oates has an excellent grasp of the poor in rural NY - she is a genius - totally understanding as to what goes on in the minds of regular people and very talented at putting it down on paper. Do as Lenny said - Get Wonderland!

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2.0 out of 5 stars How to Shorten A Book, Aug 31 2001

By	C. MacManus (Narragansett, RI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wonderland A Novel (Paperback)

Joyce Carol Oates starts with a violent family scene and moves to a rather nightmarish but almost comical family as the story of Jesse carries the reader into the realm of personality. But the story itself soon bogs down as the author uses Jesse's middle years of education and marriage as a framework to hang her convuluted ideas of why we do things, why we are violent, and how society figures in this "personality". After being horrified by his first family who quickly and violently disappear, we are truly entertained by his second very bizarre family who also instantly disappear from "Wonderland". Thus begins a long maze for the reader which will end in a most unsatisfying and poorly realized ending but thankfully it is an ending. "Wonderland" is a book, according to Oates for "all of us who pursue the phantasmagoria of personality". Yet her hero in Dr. Jesse Vogel leaves us unsatisfied in revealing this personality through behavior and emotions. Several hundred pages of wandering never did give us enough insight.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, atmospheric!
Reads like a David Lynch movie at times. Once you start, you can't put it down. My only problem was with the chapter about the math genius girl competing against the idiot... Read more

Published on May 24 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing story by a skillful writer
I really enjoyed this book by Oates. This is the first book I've read by her, and, from what I understand, the book is not written in her usual Gothicy style, but what a great... Read more

Published on Dec 31 1998 by aglaeca@concentric.net

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but a bit too psychological for some
This book shows the psychological changes of the protagonist, a boy whose father murdered the rest of his family. Read more

Published on Oct 8 1998