Where I've Been, and Where I'm Going: Essays, Reviews, Prose

by Joyce Carol Oates

This compilation of nearly 50 recent essays and reviews by one of America's leading literary figures demonstrates Joyce Carol Oates's passionate and wide-ranging interests. Fairytales ancient and modern, the literature of serial killers, surrealist art. boxing -- these are but a few of the subjects to which Oates turns her formidable intelligence. From studies of literary and art history, to examinations of the creative process and the role Of the artist in society. Oates's eloquent and thought-provoking commentaries remind us of the pleasures of the essay form. Included here are significant studies of such literary personalities as F. Scott Fitzgerald. Raymond Chandler. Sylvia Plath and Paul Bowles. among others. Where I've Been, and Where I'm Going also features Oates's writings about her own work, including essays on Expensive People. Wonderland, and Foxfire. Like her 1988 collection. (Woman) Writer: Occasions and Opportunities, these fascinating essays are a privileged glimpse into one of the most fascinating minds of our era.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction

386 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Best enjoyed in short little jaunts. Love JCO.

[Camilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

this books talks about everything in the world I love it so much

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped around - I read the sections related to books or authors I’d read previously. The fairy tales section was interesting. Now I need to go read Anne Sexton’s works. Zombie is one of my favorite books and it was very interesting to read JCO’s thoughts on and analysis of serial killers in this book. Goblin Market is one of my favorite poems and I enjoyed reading JCO’s analysis of it here.
I read this book for Week 7 of the ATY Challenge 2023: a book with one of the 5 W question words in its title.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oates brings her trademark attention to detail and calm, steady exploration of themes to several essays highlighting her intelligence and deep critical understanding of literature and other topics.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read parts of this in high school, and it led to my discovery of Anne Sexton, so I wanted to revisit these essays and see if there were other revelations. I do plan to seek out Richard Hughes, Grace Paley and Harold Frederic, but overall most of the essays left me unenthused. In fact, I will probably never attempt to read Melville ever again after reading her "praise" of Moby Dick. JCO comes across so cold in her appreciation of literature, which is weird because her fiction writing is the opposite. I did really enjoy her essay on recent books about serial killers.