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Expensive People
Expensive People
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Nominated for the National Book Award in 1968, Expensive People is the riveting story of a child murderer, told by the killer himself. The son of a successful businessman and his frustrated wife, he turns to murder in a desperate attempt at freedom. Oates's third novel, Expensive People was her earliest portrait of America's affluent suburbanite...  more »
ISBN: 189060
Publication Date: 1992
Pages: 243
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 2

4.3 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Qaulity Paperback Book Club
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
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LaurenTW avatar reviewed Expensive People on + 37 more book reviews
If you are yearning for more JCO from the early years, you will love reading the four she penned about her critiques of America -- American culture, American values, American dreams. This quartet begins with 'A Garden of Earthly Delights', continues with 'Expensive People', on to 'Them' and concludes with 'Wonderland'. In her own words, JCO states that "Expensive People, with its climactic episode of self-destructive violence, was perceived as an expression of the radical discontent, the despair, the bewilderment and outrage of a generation of young and idealistic Americans confronted by an America of their elders so steeped in political hypocrisy and cynicism as to seem virtually irremediable except by the most extreme means." Oates has an eye for minute details, nuances in her characters' expressions and actions, and develops her protagonist in such a way that I was actually rooting for him to succeed. Classic JCO!


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