false 5204 23 <b>Oprah Book Club® Selection, January 2001:</b> A happy family, the Mulvaneys. After decades of marriage, Mom and Dad are still in love--and the proud parents of a brood of youngsters that includes a star athlete, a class valedictorian, and a popular cheerleader. Home is an idyllic place called High Point Farm. And the bonds of attachment within this all-American clan do seem both deep and unconditional: "Mom paused again, drawing in her breath sharply, her eyes suffused with a special lustre, gazing upon her family one by one, with what crazy unbounded love she gazed upon us, and at such a moment my heart would contract as if this woman who was my mother had slipped her fingers inside my rib cage to contain it, as you might hold a wild, thrashing bird to comfort it."<p> But as we all know, Eden can't last forever. And in the hands of Joyce Carol Oates, who's chronicled just about every variety of familial dysfunction, you know the fall from grace is going to be a doozy. By the time all is said and done, a rape occurs, a daughter is exiled, much alcohol is consumed, and the farm is lost. Even to recount these events in retrospect is a trial for the Mulvaney offspring, one of whom declares: "When I say this is a hard reckoning I mean it's been like squeezing thick drops of blood from my veins." In the hands of a lesser writer, this could be the stuff of a bad television movie. But this is Oates's 26th novel, and by now she knows her material and her craft to perfection. <I>We Were the Mulvaneys</I> is populated with such richly observed and complex characters that we can't help but care about them, even as we wait for disaster to strike them down. <I>--Anita Urquhart</I> 420701 1996 We Were the Mulvaneys total:8709|5:1322|4:2903|3:2820|2:1169|1:495| 8709 29515 11136 900 2 7 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 07 10:56:53 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 21:24:05 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 4 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Nov 30 22:24:11 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 19:41:00 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 4 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed May 30 00:20:58 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 21 22:49:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 4 false true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 14:46:16 -0800 2008 Tue May 13 18:23:40 -0700 2008
After 400 pages of unremitting misery, suddenly everything turns sunny again and there's a happy ending. Jeez...I think the term for this is "d...more...]]> 1 3 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Wed Aug 15 17:33:19 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 17:36:07 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 11 false false Wed May 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 11:19:41 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 16:37:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Tue Jul 22 22:59:06 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 22 22:59:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 3 false true Fri Dec 14 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 14 14:30:01 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 28 12:15:43 -0800 2008
I would have given this four stars, but I just couldn't. I was too aware of Oates manipulating her poor characters, and I just couldn't believe the basic premise. There is a wonderful, close, warm family and the...more...]]> 2 2 false false Tue Jun 19 19:54:08 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 06 17:56:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 06:56:13 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 07:00:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false true Thu May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 15:22:57 -0700 2007 Mon Mar 17 13:47:43 -0700 2008
Essentially, this is the story ...more...]]> 3 1 true false Wed Jan 02 22:13:07 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 16:23:45 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 09:26:07 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 14:57:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 19:05:15 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 19:18:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 23:14:25 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 23:23:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Jul 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 06:25:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 07:38:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 21:37:15 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 21:37:15 -0700 2009 once
Story is set in 1970s chronicles the joys and tribulations ...more...]]> 5 0 false true Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 10:48:28 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 04:46:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 true false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon May 28 07:25:47 -0700 2007 Mon May 28 09:10:14 -0700 2007 We Were the Mulvaneys 3 and 4 stars. Its the story of a picture-perfect family in the 1970's. Their whole world changes after one of the daughters is raped. The way the family reacts to this event is the very core of the story. I felt Oates went into WAAAAAY to much descripti...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 17:45:26 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 18:16:43 -0700 2009 more...]]>