Re: JCO: introduction and a few reviews

Hi, Me.  I come from the midwest, not far from Lockport, NY, and have been reading JCO since the mid-1960s, starting with her short stories which were published under the name J.C. Oates.  Her consciousness and sensibilities are similar to mine; we grew up in approximately the same social class: in some ways she had it a lot rougher than I did; in others ways infinitely better.  I usually shy away from book-review discussions because I prefer to discuss the text itself, not what various reviewers said in times past.  (The same thing goes for author interviews and public signings and other Oates-sightings.) For about 30 years I wrote book reviews for various newspapers (and published two conversations I had with JCO -- one around BELLEFLEUR, the other around BLACK WATER, although we discussed many of her other works during our talks.)  I may take a look at your reviews although I prefer text-focused discussions that occur in more-or-less real-time at this site. Perhaps you could throw out some ideas you have about the latest JCO work(s) you have read, whether for review or for your own interest.  That would be most welcome.  In recent years, discussion of text has dropped almost out of sight at this site, in which I've participated since 1996.  Most appearances of a new JCO work are greeted by discussions of book reviews and what JCO has "said" about the text after she has completed it rather than the text itself. Book review (as opposed to book) discussions usually bog down in one of two ways:

      1. A positive review that makes any further site discussion seem unnecessary.

      2. A negative review that focuses site discussion on what a jerk the reviewer is.

 

     I look forward to hearing from you.  Have you seen the movie Small Avalanches yet? (The DVD copy I ordered last week is supposedly on its way from Canada to me.)  And speaking of movies, have you seen The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio yet? -- it's a midwest memoir of another large family, which you might find of interest.

 

Best,

Cyrano

 

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