Students interested in writing about the stories collected in High Lonesome
might want to begin by learning about Oates’s life and career. Greg Johnson’s
biography, Invisible Writer, provides the most extensive look, but many book-
length studies of her work also provide introductions or chapters devoted to
biographical matters, including those by Johnson and Elaine Showalter. These
works also provide a variety of critical approaches to Oates’s short fiction, con-
sidering gender, genre, and historical perspectives. The article by Brenda Daly
focuses particularly on gender issues. Those interested in comparing Oates’s short
fiction to her novels could examine the studies by Gavin Cologne-Brookes and
Joanne Creighton. Oates has written about her own process, craft, and thematic
interests in The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973–1982 and The Faith of a Writer:
Life, Craft, Art. By consulting these and various interviews listed below, students
can gain insight into the inspiration behind her short fiction.
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION AND RESEARCH
- In “Why Is Your Writing So Violent?” in The New York Times Book Review
Oates comments on the irony of being asked this question in Germany, “not
many miles from where Adolf Hitler proclaimed the Second World War.”
She goes on, “The question was asked in Liége, in Hamburg, in London, in
Detroit, in New York City. It would be asked in China if I went to China.
It would be in Moscow. In Hiroshima.” She considers this question “always
insulting... always ignorant... always sexist.” Students might choose to write
about the effect violence has on Oates’s work. Such students would be par-
ticularly interested in the short stories “Heat” and “High Lonesome” but could
examine many other stories in the collection, including “The Fish Factory” and
“The Cousins.” How does violence function in her stories? Is it necessary? Is
it paired with other common themes? Students may also choose to compare
and contrast the stories’ violent aggressors, such as Daryl and Roger. Another
approach would be to compare the more-realistic physical violence of “Heat”
and “High Lonesome” to the psychological violence present in “Where Are
You Going, Where Have You Been?” An important consideration to all of
these topics is whether or not the violence is occurring “onstage” or “offstage.” - As an American writer who has been publicly skeptical about the politics of
the United States, Oates’s fictional commentaries on the American dream
provide an interesting examination. Particularly relevant stories from High
Lonesome include “Golden Gloves,” “The Cousins,” “BD11 1 87,” and “The
Hair.” Advanced students interested in doing additional reading may want to
consider the novel We Were the Mulvaneys (1996) or the book-length essay On
Boxing (1994). Students writing on this topic would find it beneficial to listen
to an audio in which Oates defines the American dream. The clip is available
online through the Academy of Achievement website: http://www.achieve-
ment.org/autodoc/page/oat0int-2 [accessed 19 February 2010]. - In her review of High Lonesome Cathleen Schine challenges the description
of Oates as a “social realist,” describing her instead as a “fantasist. The stories
in fact are often told by fantasists, from the point of view of unreliable narra-