HarperCollins. We know we have no chance in this battle, but we pursue it like the madmen we've become. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. I suspect many of us have been lured and repelled by the basilisk of ending it all. Sold by Capital Region Books and ships from Amazon Fulfillment. Product Identifiers. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. I found though some things she said very puzzling, in particular her insistence that she and her husband never told each other 'upsetting' things as that would mean 'trying to hurt each other'. The account of their marriage was very touching, and its aftermath most eloquently described - I love her characteristic and adventurous style of writing. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2017. We know we have no chance in this battle, but we pursue it like the madmen we've become. Milena: The Tragic Story of Kafka's Great Love, Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum, Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch, Writing Memoir: How to tell a story from your life, The Long Hello: Memory, My Mother, and Me, “Astonishing…revelatory…[A Widow’s Story] is remarkable…for how candidly Oates explores the writer’s secret life: the private world of her marriage, which…she asserts is far truer and more real, and of far greater importance, than any of her imaginary creations.” -- Book Forum. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. But is there really a choice to give up your life of grieving? Previous page of related Sponsored Products. There are various tasks she needs to do so doesn’t have time to accept her own grief. She needs to make numerous copies of the death certificate, probate the will, pay the bills, deal with the flood of sympathy cards and gifts, makes her first public appearance and trying decide whether to keep the Ontario Review, her husband’s magazine and the small press going. The lack of sentimentality and the reality of life after death will mark it as a memoir unlike any other in this category. It is my thought that unless you have experienced the death of someone that you truly loved, you will not understand this book or the existential pain of despair evinced in this memoir. [Joyce Carol Oates; Ellen Parker] -- Joyce Carol Oates shares her struggle to comprehend a life absent of the partnership that had sustained and defined her for nearly half a century. There is no reference to close family members. When Ray collapsed she drove him to the hospital, and later she would think that she unwittingly drove him to his death, since he died of an infection he caught in that hospital, “a teeming petri dish of lethal bacteria”. 0062015532. Please try again. The loss is so profound that your DNA, as it were, is changed. Unlike anything Joyce Carol Oates has written before, A Widow’s Story is the universally acclaimed author’s poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of Raymond Smith, her husband of forty-six years, and its wrenching, surprising aftermath. Enlivened by the piercing vision, acute perception, and mordant humor that are the hallmarks of the work of Joyce Carol Oates, this moving tale of life and death, love and grief, offers a candid, never-before-glimpsed view of this acclaimed author and fiercely private woman. In the week’s following Ray’s death JCO seems to exist on auto-pilot. 9780062020505. eBay Product ID (ePID) 110878410. She wonders if there is a perspective from which the widow's grief is sheer vanity, this pretense that one's loss is so very special that there has never been a loss quite like it. I was also struck by the self-hatred and self-contempt with which she treated herself during this terrible time, as though bereavement was a 'punishment' and subsequent trials 'what she deserved'. This is a brilliant memoir; it meant so much to me that I took notes on it because her thoughts were often like mine, as we are both widows. Unlike anything Joyce Carol Oates has written before, A Widow’s Story is the universally acclaimed author’s poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of Raymond Smith, her husband of forty-six years, and its wrenching, surprising aftermath. And when I read about her fear of not being able to replace light bulbs when they burn out I laughed out loud; this is a famous woman who was married to a (fairly) famous man, and if she's worried about hiring a handyperson to do such things, how are much more "average" widows and widowers to feel about not being able to pay their mortgage or rent? But you don't give a damn about such trite remarks. So many rituals to hone like a fine knife to show your eternal devotion to the departed. You may have already requested this item. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. It is much much more. You truly believe that you are disloyal to your beloved if you give up your suffering, even for a moment. A recent recipient of National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, Oates, whose novels (Blonde, The Gravedigger’s Daughter, Little Bird of Heaven, etc.) She describes the book, "A Widow's Memoir," as practical and darkly funny (Ms. Oates says she plans to include a "widow's handbook" with advice on fundamentals such as how to pick out a … Something went wrong. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Unlike anything Joyce Carol Oates has written before, A Widow’s Story is the universally acclaimed author’s poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of Raymond Smith, her husband of forty-six years, and its wrenching, surprising aftermath. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. 9780062015532. eBay Product ID (ePID) 109121771. We rage against "what is." Format. Thank you Joyce Carol Oates. (I would not have minded reading about this fear of hers if she had addressed it as an unrealistic fear that never the less scared her while she was vulnerable, but no such explanation was given.) I lost count of how many times I read about whether the lights in her house were on or off! The Lost Landscape: A Writer's Coming of Age, Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice, Writing Memoir: How to tell a story from your life, Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum, Milena: The Tragic Story of Kafka's Great Love, Open Road: A Midlife Memoir of Travel and the National Parks, Early one morning in February 2008, Oates drove her husband, Raymond Smith, to the Princeton Medical Center where he was admitted with pneumonia. Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017. Oh to be able to write like this! I agree with other reviewers that it went on a bit, but I'm grateful to the author for writing it and sharing so much of her internal world. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. A Widow's Story: A Memoir, By Joyce Carol Oates It is difficult to open novelist Joyce Carol Oates's powerful and revealing chronicle of her widowhood without crying I felt she could have reached out to friends a bit more. LibraryThing is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers The honesty and insightfulness expressed by JCO give me hope. (I would not have minded reading about this fear of hers if she had addressed it as an unrealistic fear that never the less scared her while she was vulnerable, but no such explanation was given.) There, he developed a virulent opportunistic infection and died just one week later. I agree with other reviewers that it went on a bit, but I'm grateful to the author for writing it and sharing so much of her internal world. It tells what happens to Mrs Raymond Smith when her husband dies, the extremes of deep grief, the effects of alienation from her professional alter ego, the writer Joyce Carol Oates. I had no interest in reading the author's tedious (to me) and repetitive emails sent to her friends. HarperCollins. But I'm alive. Joyce's physical and emotional responses in the days immediately following the unexpected death of her husband and soul-mate are minutely examined but not self-consciously or melodramatically. A Widow’s Story is a literary memoir on a par with The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and Calvin Trillin’s About Alice. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, which was nominated for the National Book Award, and the New York Times bestseller The Falls, which won the 2005 Prix Femina. 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Ships from Amazon Fulfillment down and thoroughly explore student union at UCB and like Ray he suddenly... Oates met Raymond Smith in 1961 when they were both attending the University of Wisconsin as students... To me ) and repetitive descriptions of her novels is extremely upsetting both attending the University of as... Who did not read her fiction writing with Ray to comfort her now. `` don! It all hospital-acquired virulent infection—and Joyce was suddenly faced with the stunning of. Married to Ray for 47 years been lured and repelled by the basilisk ending. We love system considers things like how recent a review is and if reviewer. Inferno was sequestered from her joyful life with her husband admire the raw honesty of JCO account. Even sinful could have reached out to friends a bit more delivery date, and order total ( tax! Hard to protect your security and privacy subscription boxes – right to your door, 1996-2021... 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