Short stories by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is a prolific American writer known for her versatility across various genres, including novels, short stories, essays, and poetry who was born in 1938. Oates has won numerous awards throughout her career, including the National Book Award for her novel them and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. Among her most notable works are "We Were the Mulvaneys," "Blonde," and "The Falls." She has taught at numerous universities, including Princeton, and University of California-Berkeley.
In her work, Oates often explores the complexities of human relationships, the impact of trauma, and the blurred lines between good and evil. She delves into the darker aspects of society, presenting provocative narratives that challenge readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the human condition.
Listing 31 stories.
A college girl becomes her professor's mistress and moves into his home with his wife and children. After she becomes pregnant, the wife is pushed to make a tragic decision to escape her crumbling marriage and protect the young new mother.
An American art historian attends a diplomat's dinner in Amsterdam where a looming threat of a terrorist attack hangs over the evening.
The granddaughter of a revered Princeton genius reaches out to her family's maid to uncover what terrible secrets tore her family apart and resulted in his lonely death many years ago.
A young woman is returning to her husband and parents in New York, after having left her husband for a brief affair. As her father drives her home and reminisces on the hard work it took to build a life at their farmhouse, she learns that he hasn't told anyone else she's coming home.
A white woman who has recently moved to a rural Southern area with her family experiences a hysterical fear of the neighboring Mexican children.
A new addition to the English department at a university in Canada raises the eyebrows of the staff because of his apparent queerness, and as they strive to uncover his sexuality, their hypocrisy is satirically revealed.
A five-year-old girl and her mother go into hiding with some less-than-savory friends at an upstate New York cabin. While there, the girl sees the ghosts of a past tragedy and, for the first time, confronts the insecurity and inexplicability of her own life.
A divorced mother watches her son unravel with shame while on a visit home from school as he reveals that an older, married woman has expressed sexual interest in him. The mother wavers between whether to intervene, or to sit back and let him handle the consequences of his actions.
In a small town, Rhea and Rhoda, two vivacious, inseparable twins, are found brutally murdered and raped by a developmentally disabled man.
After the loss of their newborn, a man goes on an obsessive house hunt in a new city to prepare for his depressed wife's arrival.