From Library Journal
Devoted fans and newcomers alike will find it hard to read just one of the 25 compelling stories in Oates's newest collection. In the title story, a chilling tale of repressed sexuality, Oates grips the reader with her masterful interplay of dread, dominance, and youth. The story begins after the bold, impetuous Kunkle twins are found behind the icehouse, raped and murdered. The iceman's son, Roger, can't explain the blood on his overalls because he doesn't remember a thing. The young narrator isn't exactly sure what happened to Rhea and Rhoda before they died, but the reader knows. Less is left to the imagination when adult voices tell tales of love, desire, and despair. Oates combines stories of voyeuristic clarity with those that obscure truth to reveal the emotional forces at war in the human heart. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/91.
- Janet Wilson Reit, Univ. of Vermont Lib., BurlingtonCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Ingram
A new collection of twenty-five short stories from one of America's preeminent literary figures once again reveals the darkness, the violence, and the raw emotion lurking below the surfaces of everyday life. Reprint.
PW.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
