Dear Husband (2009) is a short story collection by
Joyce Carol Oates. It contains 14 tales variously concerned with family relationships and crises. It was first published by Harper Collins.
---
Proudct Description A gripping and moving new collection of stories by Joyce Carol Oates, which reimagines the meaning of family—by unexpected, often startling means
With the unflinching candor and sympathy for which Joyce Carol Oates is celebrated, these fourteen stories examine the intimate lives of contemporary American families: the tangled ties between generations, the desperation—and the covert, radiant happiness—of loving more than one is loved in return. In "Cutty Sark" and "Landfill," the bond between adolescent son and mother reverberates with the force of an unspoken passion, bringing unexpected consequences for the son. In "A Princeton Idyll," a woman is forced to realize, decades later, her childhood role in the destruction of a famous, beloved grandfather's life. In "Magda Maria," a man tries to break free of the enthralling and dangerous erotic obsession of his life. In the gripping title story, Oates boldly reimagines the true-crime story of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her children in 2001. Several stories—"Suicide by Fitness Center," "The Glazers," and "Dear Joyce Carol,"—take a less tragic turn, exploring with mordant humor the shadowy interstices between self-awareness and delusion.
Dramatic, intensely rendered, and always provocative, Dear Husband, provides an unsettling and fascinating look into the mysterious heart of America.
---
Contents PART ONE
- Panic
- Special
- The Blind Man's Sighted Daughters
- Magda Maria
- A Princeton Idyll
- Cutty Sark
- Landfill
- Vigilante
- The Heart Sutra
PART TWO
- Dear Joyce Carol,
- Suicide by Fitness Center
- The Glazers
- Mistrial
- Dear Husband