JCO: Hitchcock

One thing I found really interesting listening to the most recent interview with JCO and Silverblatt (link listed below) was that she decided to cancel her plan to write a biography about Hitchcock because she found him so repulsive. That's quite something considering some of the men Oates has written about in the past. Take for example, the research she must have done in order to write Zombie. After listening to the interview I went to the new story collection High Lonesome and read "Fat Man, My Love" which she mentioned as the byproduct of her research. It made a different how I read it knowing that she'd been doing research for a biography and her personal thoughts on Hitchcock. Some parts did feel to me more journalistic in their style, as if reporting interesting details and facts about a person for a biography. But I found it was interesting how she invites the reader to feel some respect for the man although he is basically portrayed as a monster. It's challenging for the reader, pushing them into a frame of mind they may not be comfortable with. It reminds me of her story about the woman thinking back on her abduction by a serial killer and how he spared her life. ("The Girl with the Blackened Eye" I think?) Although it was gruesome and traumatizing, she seems to take some comfort and even pride in the event thinking of how she was special for being spared death by this killer.
 
eric

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