false 1745101 0814907458 9780814907450 7 2 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1247447572m/1745101.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1745101.The_Goddess_and_Other_Women 3524 Joyce Carol Oates 36646 4548 2 0 false Sun Jul 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 17:53:19 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 09:36:14 -0700 2009 1
I wish I hadn't started with this book of short stories. It makes me wary of reading anything else by this author. It's not that the writing is bad, it's that it is the most dreary, depressing group of stories I have ever read in my life. It's not dark in a fun way -- it's about swirling around the drain. Rape, other violence, drug overdoses, mental illness, bad marriages, you name a way to have a horrible life, the women in these stories fall victim to it. Not one of them has a hopeful note, a happy ending, the possiblity of things getting better. In fact, most of them don't have "endings" at all. They just drudge along morosely, and then suddenly end.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy more upbeat stories -- or at least stories that have a beginning, middle, and end. This book just didn't do anything for me. I'll try something else by Ms. Oates and hope for better.]]>