15 Comments

Joyce, I've read a fair amount of your work, more than a third of your novels, including Wonderland, and this piece explains the bedrock of that remarkable book as well as some you don't mention. For instance, I think, though you may say I'm getting it wrong, The Falls comes under the umbrella you're showing us here, namely, the familial, social and geographical roots that can feed, and constantly rechallenge, a writer for a lifetime.

All of your novels that I've read stick fairly close to lived, daily realities, while nearly always showing how "reality" can pummel, disorient, enchant and inspire us as we undergo it, that is, try to get even a tentative grip on it before it overcomes or seems to belittle us. That strikes me as an enduring theme in your work.

Your work is without equal in American or, as far as I know, world literature. You show how the real and the intensely imagined live right beside one another. Put differently, as Doris Lessing might, that spot in the universe, light years away from us, is on the same plane as we are, in the very same universe. We have no reason to suppose that that location, whatever may be there, is necessarily more important or wondrous than we are, struggling day by day to make sense of life on our tiny planet. We see the universe in a grain of sand, Blake tells us. I think we sometimes ought to consider ourselves the grain of sand.

I keep meaning to get to The Gravedigger's Daughter and its sequel, Little Bird of Heaven. This piece makes me want to start in on them today.

Continued best wishes.

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This is lovely.

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Beautiful essay! Thanks for sharing. I've been wondering when/where the 2021 documentary about you will be available? "A Body in the Service of Mind." I know it played here in Toronto at the Hot Docs Film Festival but I missed it then. Any ideas when it'll be released to the public?

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Oh Joyce. This explains so much of your writing… Sentimental, yet, deeply layered.

I’ve been a lifetime fan of your writing and have gotten lost (&could not stop reading) all of your stories!

My dad is at ‘end of life’ stage. Also a teenager of the Depression. A collector, a hoarder.

Your thoughts of your dad, mirror my own thoughts of my dad…

Your writing is relatable.

Thank you for sharing so much of yourself.

I’m a fangirl for life, Joyce Carol Oates♥️

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Beautiful ❤️

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I never thought about character as fate. But I’ll go with it. Your grandfather’s character certainly seemed so. Glad your joyous Dad didn’t inherit it. Yes, I do know how hard it is to write about those who peopled our childhood. After my mother died I spent the next 20 years writing about us. When I finished I had a nervous collapse. I couldn’t bear the separation ( and my family were great on paper but miserable as parents to only kid me). I just started a new fiction & found myself back in my old neighborhood in the house. I loved The Gravediggers Daughter. I remember reading that first chapter repeatedly for the beauty of the prose🌷❤️

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A fascinating and moving story, beautifully written. Thank you for sharing it. So much of what you wrote resonates with me. My father was born in 1916, my mother in 1920, and neither of them made a big deal about occasions like their birthdays. They had a hard, physical life and were determined that we (my sister and I) wouldn't. You're so right when you say "only chance saved me and others of my generation from the work-oriented lives of our parents."

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Thank you for opening up and letting us in. Fascinating.

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I have been a fan of yours for quite some time. I always thought you had deep thoughts about family and relationships. I had wondered if there was a special relationship with your Dad, as fathers are always very prominent in your writing.

You are a special woman whose shared some of the most poignant words with us, your readers.

Thank you for you sharing yourself with us. You are a treasure.

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Thank you for inviting us into your home, as well as your work.

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This is a beautiful read. And I love that music played (plays) such an integral role in the Oates family lineage from your father and on into you. The "As Time Goes By" and "St. James Infirmary" references are great. I wondered what other Jazz you like and how far your interest lies in its evolution as a genre after the era of such tunes.

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Thank you for rejoicing as you do so eloquently, imaginatively, and with the deepest sense of honor and respect. How inspiring you are, and a wonderful guide through the unconscious so we all can be illuminated through your words.

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What a lovely tribute to your father. We do mythologize our parents! I am glad you had a well-rounded Ulysses, while mine could have the temperament of Zeus (rather like your grandfather!)

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Loved reading this!

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Absolutely fascinating; thank you and bless you!

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