Oates' line in the interview that Cassidy "has an unexplored capacity for brutality, which he is on the brink of revealing — but doesn't, quite" is the most useful gloss I've read on a difficult scene. The phone hurled into the ocean, the hard shake, the marks on Brianna's shoulder — the story keeps the violence in the register of the almost. That restraint is harder than escalation. Letting the threat hover lets the reader feel the room without giving Cassidy the relief of having committed the act.
A complete control freak and egomaniac who is under the illusion that he can start a new life without concern for the effect that his betrayal will have on his family's mental health. Such a fool.
Like a nightmare, so creepy the entire time one felt she was in danger even if she was over the top and the intention of ripping him off may have been there but all out revenge and her savy to save herself.
Read (in The New Yorker) and loved the brilliance of "The Frenzy". JCO has the ability to show us who her characters are in details that ring tiny alarm bells... until we completely understand who they area. I know that I cannot resist another selection of stories and will be ordering the collection in the coming days.
Oates' line in the interview that Cassidy "has an unexplored capacity for brutality, which he is on the brink of revealing — but doesn't, quite" is the most useful gloss I've read on a difficult scene. The phone hurled into the ocean, the hard shake, the marks on Brianna's shoulder — the story keeps the violence in the register of the almost. That restraint is harder than escalation. Letting the threat hover lets the reader feel the room without giving Cassidy the relief of having committed the act.
A complete control freak and egomaniac who is under the illusion that he can start a new life without concern for the effect that his betrayal will have on his family's mental health. Such a fool.
Like a nightmare, so creepy the entire time one felt she was in danger even if she was over the top and the intention of ripping him off may have been there but all out revenge and her savy to save herself.
Congratulations!
Wish they had a fricken edit button here
Read (in The New Yorker) and loved the brilliance of "The Frenzy". JCO has the ability to show us who her characters are in details that ring tiny alarm bells... until we completely understand who they area. I know that I cannot resist another selection of stories and will be ordering the collection in the coming days.