A diverse collection from a prolific writer that got me wondering how to categorize these stories, the only common theme being that they all had been previously published in literary journals and magazines, and therefore many ran about the same length. It seems to be a pattern with Oates who periodically takes everything she has published recently and sticks them into a book, and publishers seem game to take this on for the long anticipated but hitherto unacknowledged Nobel laureate-in-waiting.

The collection is divided into four uneven parts. The number of stories in each part varies, and I couldn’t understand the reason for this sub-division. Was it even necessary? Family dysfunction dominates parts 1 to 3, while a surreal atmosphere lurks over Part 4. The stories are set in the states of New York and New Jersey, in particular around the small towns on southern shore of Lake Ontario, which interested me as I live in a small town on the northern shore of the same lake. The narratives are non linear and jump back and forth in time. Every story tries to introduce a new voice as its narrator, a new syntax, and this is impressive, in particular the voices of teenagers caught in sinister situations. A strong thread of predatory sexuality runs through the collection, and the stories engage immediately. The guilty ones are alluded to but never openly exposed, as the endings are often open ended to the point that many interpretations are possible— some would consider this a plus for the short story, but I need to have a bit more than a suggestion of guilt. The downer is that a lot of back story has to be covered on the characters and therefore there is a lot of “telling.”

The most impactful stories to me were: “Jorie and Jamie” in which the mental illness of a child and its destructive effect on her family is powerfully rendered through the eyes of one of her siblings; “Wolf’s Head Lake” in which a woman ponders the lihood of a sexual predator casing the joint among the myriad of lakeside cottages in search of a new victim; “The Girls with the Blackened Eye” in which a 13-year old is kidnapped and abused by a sexual predator and forced to watch him do the same thing with an adult woman; “The Instructor” where a young remedial English teacher develops an attraction for one of her students, an adult male recently released from Death Row; “The Skull”, a renowned sculptor remakes the shattered skull of a murder victim to assist the police investigation and triggers a revelation of his real character—but as I mentioned earlier, guilt is only a suggestion. The final story in the collection, “Mutants,” conveys the atmosphere of surrealism when a woman is trapped inside her Manhattan apartment during 9/11 and starts to act out of character. Much has been commented on the Marilyn Monroe story, “Three Girls,” but I thought that the more interesting characters here were the other two girls, and I wondered whether Monroe was a figment of their imagination and desire, triggered by their heightening attraction for each other?

What impresses me most is Joyce Caro OatesÂ’ versatility. I have read her novels, non-fiction, and now, short fiction, and she excels in all three departments. And the sheer volume of her oeuvre staggers me, with very little repetition in theme, other than for the Kafkaesque stain that spreads over all her work, a darkness out of character with the staid and sheltered college professor she has been for most of her life. Which goes to show that copious and diverse reading helps us escape the narrow confines of existence, and that imagination works better than experience when it comes to telling a rollicking good story.
16 s Sandra858 7

Imagine someone serving you a scrumptious slice of chocolate cake. You then have 2 or 3 bites before it is taken away from you. Imagine that happening over and over again, maybe 19 times, to be exact. Well, that is what this book is . Several short stories (19), with so much potential, then they just STOP! Leaving you wondering "what just happened?", "what might happen next?" Maybe this is how great authors get the starts for their books. There were several that I wish Joyce would finish, instead of allowing my mind to wander over the possibilities. Hey Joyce, mind if I have a go at finishing one? "The Instructor" really, really calls to me. So, in summary, if you can stand having unfinished business, and you don't mind things that may be a little ghoulish, then this is a definite read.fiction horror mystery7 s AndyAuthor 15 books141

This JCO collection vacillates wildly between stories that have a powerful payoff and some that run around in circles going nowhere. Then again there were unforgettable tales about the disowned daughter, the deadbeat brother-in-law, the lecherous workaholic uncle and the numbskull daughter who can't identify her dead mother.

Part III of the book had the most potent stories: The Skull is the tale of a forensic scientist's obsession with the brutally murdered remains of a young girl; The Deaths, a tale of a once close, now estranged brother and sister fighting over their recollection of their dead parents; Jorie & Jamie, a nightmarish tale of twins, one well-behaved while the other is chronically psychopathic; and Mrs. Halifax and Rickie Swann, a piece about a young school teacher's affair with a teenage student. All of these stories really resounded strongly with me.

I didn't care for the Marilyn Monroe story or the 9/11 story; when Oates goes for populism it rings false and somewhat half-hearted (her Black Dahlia story in another book was awful). However, there's more than enough damage to absorb in this collection, to be sure.american-nightmare7 s Laura3 1 follower

During junior year of high school, my AP American Lit teacher told the class that Edgar Allan Poe believed short stories to be the most perfect form of fiction because they could be read in one sitting, allowing the reader to more fully comprehend the author’s intent and the nuances of the plot. So rarely do I read short stories, but after reading this collection, I get it. I get Poe. In only a few pages, Oates conveys more emotion and character development than many authors achieve in hundreds of pages. With these 19 stories, Joyce Carol Oates proves herself a master of manipulation. The woman made me so uncomfortable and yet so satisfied in the end! I cringed, I sighed, I bit my nails in bouts of anxiety as Oates explored the secrets we’re addicted to—the dangerous, the hurtful, and the healing. I’m so glad I didn’t let the emo title deter me; this book was definitely worth a read.6 s Connie G1,812 607

This was a very powerful group of short stories, many with a twist at the end. Many of the stories were about troubled individuals in dark, intense situations. I found I could only read a few of the stories at one sitting because the author did such an excellent job of getting inside the heads of the emotionally distraught characters. There were several stories that I felt would be seeds for some very good novels.short-stories6 s T. ReillyAuthor 4 books42

Oates is one of the biggest influences on my own writing, if not the biggest influence. She teaches college about forty-five minutes from where I live and I got the opportunity to hear her read once. I will never forget it.

This collection gets to the gritty, raw and real that is Oates' work. Her stories do what writing is intended to do, what it should do. She burrows deep into the essence of her characters so the reader can see and feel everything about them, beautiful or ugly and all the in between. 5 s Sterlingcindysu1,454 61

OK, I'm going to cut and paste a review from Publisher's Weekly, because the worst part about reading a book of short stories is reviewing it. Oates has some dark sides to her, that's for sure. A couple stories about female teachers certainly sounded her, or at least the descriptions did!

Never one to shy away from grim or sensational themes, Oates writes about murder, rape, arson and terrorism in her latest collection of short fiction. In these 19 stories, she evokes the underbellies of small towns and the bizarre and obsessive desires of their inhabitants. In "Upholstery," a teenager finds herself helplessly attracted to a lecherous older man. A 14-year-old in "The Girl with the Blackened Eye" is brutally abducted but afraid to break her kidnapper's trust by escaping. In Oates's precise psychological renderings, victims are as complex as villains and almost always more interesting. The lure of the criminal is seductive, impossible to resist. Two stories, "In Hiding" and "The Instructor," feature middle-class female intellectuals inexplicably drawn to convicts. The prototypical victim, Marilyn Monroe—also the subject of Oates's acclaimed 2001 novel Blonde —appears in disguise in "Three Girls," when two young coeds encounter her in the Strand bookstore and agree to help her remain anonymous. The collection closes with a story about September 11 that in anyone but Oates's hands would fall flat. But "The Mutants," in which a young woman trapped in her downtown apartment building refuses to be paralyzed by fear.4 s Delfi102 19

Leggere dei racconti in modo discontinuo così come ho fatto io, non è un problema: proprio perché storie a sè stanti, si possono leggere facendo passare anche alcuni giorni tra l’una e l’altra.
Nel mio caso però, è capitato che persino la lettura di uno stesso racconto venisse dilazionata per più giorni, nonostante nessun racconto prenda molte pagine.
Questa la premessa, per dovere di obiettività: sono infatti fermamente convinta che nessun libro meriti salti temporali di giorni, il ritmo deve essere piuttosto costante, altrimenti nessuna musica suona bene.
Ma entrando nel dettaglio, non posso tacere il mio senso di insoddisfazione a lettura ultimata. Nessun racconto risulta compiuto, tutti si concludono in modo vago, viene affidato al lettore il compito di ipotizzare il seguito, il senso potrei pure dire. Non bastasse questo particolare, per me disturbante, quindi più che sufficiente a determinare un mio giudizio non positivo, tutte le storie sono inquietanti, dure, tragiche. Non sono ingenuamente attratta dal lieto fine, non sono Heidi nè Pollyanna, ma un raggio di sole vorrei pur vederlo dopo una serie ininterrotta di giorni foschi!4 s Angie McCrae57 5

I Am No One You Know is a collection of short stories, which isn't my usual genre, but the synopsis seemed interesting. I got about halfway through the book and stopped reading. Aesthetically, the stories are well written, but the endings are a bit off. I believe the author intended to conclude each story in a way that would allow the reader to further contemplate the story and apply their own meaning or value. But for me, they were awkward and unfinished conclusions.

None of the stories I read didn't pique my interest and finally I just gave up. Perhaps the stories later in the book were better, but I did not have the patience to explore it further. I think this is the type of book that you either you love or don't , there's no middle ground. I'm in the latter group.2009 fiction short-story4 s Sophia Pekowsky39 2

These stories will haunt me for the rest of my life!!!! 4 s SheriC694 35

This is my first experience with Joyce Carol Oates, so IÂ’m not sure if this is typical of her work. I found it both compelling and frustrating. The stories were mostly character portraits, and those characters were usually damaged, isolated, seeking to explain or understand themselves. Pretty grim reading, in other words. As for frustrating, they were structured almost flash fiction, where there is no narrative arc. Every story justÂ… stops. I could have been okay with this through a handful of stories, but I was weary of the whole thing long before I got through all nineteen.

eBook, purchased via kindle.0-owned 4-format-ebook 5-rated-3-stars ...more3 s Stefania404 2

Diciannove storie scritte dall'inconfondibile penna di Joyce Carol Oates. Alcune molto brevi, altre più lunghe ed articolate, altre ancora misteriose e con finali molto aperti e sospesi che quasi si collegano al titolo della raccolta, indicando quanto può essere profondo, sconosciuto e imprevedibile l'animo umano. Ci sono tanti temi cari all'autrice e molti racconti nascono da idee che poi la Oates ha meglio sviluppato in romanzi come "Ho fatto la spia" e "Blonde". Quattro racconti mi sono rimasti molto impressi:

* La ragazza con l'occhio nero
* L'insegnante
* Tre ragazze
* Aiuto e incoraggiamento

per profondità, bellezza della scrittura e temi destabilizzanti e a mio avviso interessanti.2 s Kiarup222 18

4 stelline che assegno sorprendendo anche me stessa. Non ho mai particolarmente apprezzato i racconti, spesso mi sembrano inconcludenti e mi danno poca soddisfazione perché, come mi affeziono ad un personaggio, le pagine finiscono. A volte quando la storia si conclude il pensiero più immediato è: "Beh? e quindi che succede?". Non posso negare che ciò succeda più volte anche in questa raccolta di Joyce Carol Oates, ma le storie, per la maggior parte drammatiche, sono quasi tutte appassionanti nonostante le poche pagine. Mi ci vorrà parecchio per dimenticare il finale del quarto racconto "Aiuto e incoraggiamento". 2 s Nassim12 1 follower

This was the first book I've ever read by J.C. Oates, who apparently is a Great American Author. Seriously, she's a big deal. Each short story in this collection could be its own novel. Her sentences are beautiful to read. Her stories are full of suspense and will probably give you nightmares. Loved every single story in this book. 2 s Katia133 18

In questo momento, oltre la Tartt, non ricordo nessuna scrittrice che sappia scrivere come la Oates.
Dicono sia una delle più grandi esponenti della letteratura americana contemporanea.
E' vero.
Chapeau. 2 s Valentina9 6

Sono tutti racconti molto scorreveli che ti tengono incollata alla narrazione per sapere come sia il finale, peccato siano inconcludenti, lasciandoti quindi l'amaro in bocca. Il racconto migliore, a mio avviso, è " l'insegnante"racconti2 s Lisa79 5

If you the disturbing nature of Joyce Carol Oates- a great selection of short stories.2 s Pam Poddany322 5

These are nineteen very tense, dark, thrilling, exciting and dangerous short stories. JCO never fails me; her books are so intense and so very well written.

Each and every one of these were wonderful but a few of them stood out for me.

MRS. HALIFAX & RICKIE SWANN; A BALLAD..A teacher takes a troubled student under her wing with astonishing results.

JORIE (&JAMIE)..Fraternal twin sisters are so very different. Jorie has intense issues that her family just can't handle.

THREE GIRLS .. On a cold and snowy night two young girls discover a surprise customer in a used book store.

There are plenty of surprises, twists, turns, and shocks in every one of these stories. They are shocking, bold, and dark in such a good way. Highly recommend.1 Naomi L171 3

IÂ’m not really a huge fan of short stories but I thought IÂ’d try these out because IÂ’ve heard good things about this collection and I this author. After reading this... I still am not a huge fan of short stories lol. These stories were mostly character studies instead of being plot driven and many seemed to end abruptly/ambiguously which just isnÂ’t really my cup of tea. That being said I can appreciate that these are very well done short stories even if I personally didnÂ’t enjoy them that much.1 Steph28 2

Many of the stories ended abruptly and felt unfinished. I kept wishing they could be full novels instead of short stories. 4 stars because being left wanting more to read is better than being bored and wanting the book to end.read-20201 Gina437

4 1/2 stars

I devoured these stories. Startling and surreal, they are what happens when the seemingly normal in our world shifts a kaleidoscope, sometimes to reassemble safely! and sometimes to remain askew and broken beyond repair.

When there are no words, there is no memory.joyce-carol-oates1 Ryan423 17

I was promised I'd be haunted, unsettled, disturbed, and heartbroken. I was indeed - all of those and more20171 Edwina Callan1,800 57

Out of the nineteen short stories in this book there was only one that I d.
The one about the serial killer, of course.
(And, the one about the 32-year-old teacher having an affair with her 14-year-old student just sickened me.)2018 bookcrossing1 AJ230 3

As always, love JCO. Thank goodness she has a tremendous amount of books out there because whenever I get bored I just pick one of hers up and IÂ’m immediately entertained.1 Buchdoktor1,978 148

In der Reihe "Die andere Bibliothek" erscheint seit ihrer Gründung 1984 durch Franz Greno monatlich ein Buch in bibliophiler Aufmachung. Bis 1997 noch in limitierte Ausgabe im Bleisatz gedruckt, ragen die inzwischen mit modernen Druckverfahren produzierten Bücher nach wie vor durch Satz und Papierqualität heraus. Eine Sammlung bisher nicht ins Deutsche übersetzter Kurzgeschichten von Joyce Carol Oates erscheint als Band 315 der Reihe. Diese "Neuigkeit" war noch vor meiner Sammelleidenschaft Grund, das Buch zu kaufen. Bis auf wenige Ausnahmen (zwei Erzählungen stammen aus den 60ern, eine war bisher noch unveröffentlicht) erschienen die von Gabriela Jaskulla ausgewählten Geschichten in den 90ern des 20. Jahrhunderts. Die Herausgeberin weist im Vorwort daraufhin, dass einige der Geschichten die Grenze des Genres Short Story überschreiten, weil sie sie sich nicht auf die für Kurzgeschichten charakteristische Einheit des Ortes beschränken. Die Herkunft von Oates Figuren, die zumeist zur vom Abstieg bedrohten weißen Mittelschicht der USA gehören, waren für die Herausgeberin inhaltliches Kriteriun für die Zusammenstellung dieses Bandes.

Oates zeigt in ihren Arbeiten die dunkle Seite des ehemaligen Landes der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten. Sie legt (laut Jaskulla) ihren Lesern Gewalt als Leitmotiv der amerikanischen Biografie nahe, indem sie Situationen herausarbeitet, in denen Väter und Mütter ihre Familien nicht vor Eindringlingen von außen schützen können. Besonders deutlich wird diese Hilflosigkeit in "Wo ist hier?" als ein Fremder sich sein angebliches Elternhaus ansehen will und die Familie, die dort inzwischen wohnt, nicht weiß, wie sie den Mann wieder loswerden soll. Einige der Erzählungen beginnen in alltäglichen Familiensituationen (Gib Daddy einen Kuss, Ihr habt mich gestreichelt, Verklärte Nacht), andere stürmen mit Tod, Gewalt oder Selbstzerstörung direkt auf den Leser herein (Leidenschaft, Böses Schäferspiel, Todesmutter). Herausragend finde ich Joyces Fähigkeit aus der Perspektive von Kindern zu erzählen, die Gewalt erfahren haben oder denen Gewalterfahrungen unmittelbar bevorstehen (Todesmutter, Die Lästigen, Ewige Liebe). "Akt der Einsamkeit", "Nackt" und "Der feine, weiße Winterdunst" zeigen das problematische Zusammenleben Weißer mit Afro-Amerikanern. Bemerkenswert, wie die amerikanische Autorin ihre Leser zunächst mit der Vertrautheit in Paar- und Familien-Beziehungen einlullt, um kurz darauf die Fassade komplett zu zerstören (Gib Daddy einen Kuss) und die dahinter lauernde Gefährdung zu demaskieren. "Morgen" geht bis in die 60er zurück und beleuchtet die Affäre zwischen der verheirateten Studentin Lydia und ihrem erheblich älteren Dozenten. Lydia begehrt gegen ihre allzu früh geschlossene Ehe auf, nur um im Verhältnis zu Scott die Hausfrauenrolle zu wiederholen, die jene Zeit für Frauen vorgesehen hatte. Dass für Frauen im Wolfsrudel der Wissenschaftler noch kein Platz vorgesehen war, fiel Lydia noch nicht auf. "Das Omen" auf nur 6 Seiten hat mich mit seiner Symbolik und der knappen Landschaftsbeschreibung am stärksten beeindruckt.

"Die Lästigen" eignet sich für jene Leser als Einstieg in das Werk der verblüffend produktiven Joyce Carol Oates, die sich von der Fülle ihrer Veröffentlichungen - noch - überfordert fühlen.

Textauszug
"Eine Stimme klang in meinem Ohr: Hier sind wir! Es war früh, bevor die Sonne begonnen hatte, den Küstennebel aufzusaugen. Möwenschreie rissen mich aus dem Schlaf. Warum lauter als gewöhnlich? ' durchdringender, schauriger? Ich lag in meinem Bett und lauschte und kam zu dem Schluss, dass es sich um menschliche Schreie handelte, schrecklich anzuhören. Und doch ' so früh? Zu einer Zeit, zu der sicher noch niemand am Strand wäre, geschweige denn im Wasser, um zu schwimmen. An diesem abgelegenen, windigen Ort, auf einer schmalen Landzunge, drei Meilen vom nächsten Dorf entfernt und zwanzig Meilen vom nächsten Städtchen. Hier bestimmten der Atlantik und der Himmel das Dasein. Wie schnell wird, wenn man sein früheres Leben verlassen hat, die Landschaft dieses Lebens zu einer Abstraktion, wie eine Landkarte. Eine Landkarte, die man zusammenfalten und weglegen kann, und dann braucht man sie sich nie mehr anzusehen." (S. 305, Das Omen) short-stories-kurzgeschichten usa1 Milica62 2

Joyce Carol Oates has a way to make you excited and slightly nervous and so very, very curious to find out what happens in each of her stories so that even when she presents the answers to you midway through, you somehow continue feeling the same, now knowing what happens in the ‘story’ but still excitedly wondering what will happen by the end of the actual story. Another thing that is a bit formidable about her talents when you think about it (because how do you get there?) is that apparently there is a way to single out a characteristic or three of a person that make that person feel completely known to us, all the while not dismissing the complexity of anyone’s personality or reducing a person to just those couple of qualities mentioned. The family and familial ties (and often shackles) are a big theme, as are different kinds of delinquent or deviant behavior and how people try to make sense of things and keep themselves together. My favorite story, ‘Three Girls,’ however, has little to do with the overriding themes of the other stories in this collection, but is nevertheless a short masterpiece that moved me for reasons I am not even entirely sure about yet.20141 Tomiko12

This was my first encounter with Oates, and I found her writing extremely articulate and quite disturbing. It seems clear from the nature of her stories that in her life she encountered, probably as a young girl, some sort of violent trauma; most of her stories center around death or violence. That said, though her characters find themselves in extreme situations ly difficult for the average reader to empathize with (murder, rape, acute mental illness), they are believable, and piquant. In her writing, she solves a problem many writers grapple with when they face their conclusions, by, well, not concluding. Oates portrays her characters approaching or confronting the most improbable and momentous situations in their lives, and then often (perhaps too often) leaves it to the reader to imagine what will be the aftermath, which can be very disconcerting. Because I think her purpose was to, in fact, be disconcerting, overall, I suppose she achieved her aims, though disconcert is hardly the emotion with which I wish to end a book. 1 Ruth774

I am really gratified to have finally read a Joyce Carol Oates book that I love. I have read a couple of her novels and not been particularly impressed, but now I think her short stories rock. All but maybe one or two of the stories in this collection have something creepy or dark in them- death, abuse, stalking, depression, inappropriate longings, violent acts and acts of complicity in violent acts, terrible secrets, aging, etc. The stories are painful in many cases but never truly negative or gratuitous because the characters are so human and as I was reading I could feel myself melting into the people I read about, trying to understand and deal with the chosen and unchosen underbellies of their existences. Every story is a perfect snapshot of some person, some place, some past wrestling with a present. And then near the end, when I was beginning to think that this world just has too much pain, there was this totally positive little love story about 2 young women who have a sweet secret moment in the Strand with Marilyn Monroe. That was so nice!1 Chelsea42

IÂ’m a terrible feminist. There. I said it. IÂ’ve never read Joyce Carol Oates before. I only knew that I should have read Joyce Carol Oates before. I didnÂ’t know why (and I am notorious for my dis of short stories), but this book was a gift from the same aunt who gave me A Curtain of Green and Uppity Women, so that was a sign I needed to read it. When my Chubs Mug of Literary Fortitude gifted it to me, I looked at the list of short stories it contained, sighed, and started reading.

And suddenly immediately understood why I should have read Oates before.

Full review here.1 Nilay39

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