Search - We Were the Mulvaneys

Prior to "The Mulvaney's" I had not been able to become an avid reader of Joyce Carol Oates. I often had difficulty with the subject matter and frequently found myself responding in a negative , unrewarding way and that is not why I read novels. Ms. Oates is a consummate artist, a writer of very great skill, and a wonderful story-teller. "The Mulvaneys" is moving, warm, real, troubling and a pleasure to read. You can not read this book or any of her work if all you want to know is "what happens next". Her prose is flawless and chock full of those things which make great prose. It is not realistic to expect every reader to like her work, she IS a challenge, but well worth the effort(if that's what it takes.) This would be a great first Oates to read, if you need an introduction. I am baffled, though, that Oprah took so many years to find this book. It was published 5 years ago. That is when I read it, and have been reading others by Ms Oates since. I do not like everything she writes, but you very well might. A whole lot of people do!

The writing was too embellished for me and hard to follow at times. Good story, but I felt like I had to plow through to finish.

This book centers on the rape of a pure "Jesus freak" cheerleader from an upstanding family in a small town. I finished half of it , but it is depressing , so I didn't finish it. The author is wonderfully skillful in her writing , but the subject matter deterred me.

A tough go at times but worth reading.

I will never read a Joyce Carol Oates book again. She seems intent on suffering for the sake of suffering with no purpose in the end. Really, an epilogue? She enjoys over evaluating everything and spend 40 pages to extrapolate on a 1 paragraph point.

My wife says this book is one of the few from Oates that she has really enjoyed; hence, the four-star rating. Oates has an interesting history as an author -- she has won prizes for several of her novels; she is an academic writer; her works appear very personal; her books are all of many pages, seemingly requiring several cold winter's nights in a row, with a warming fireplace and a bit of brandy..