The Accursed - Softcover

Oates, Joyce Carol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062263447 ISBN 13: 9780062263445

Publisher: Harper Collins USA, 2013

Synopsis

Pub Date: 2013-03-05 Pages: 688 Language: English Publisher: HarperCollins US A major historical novel from one of the great artistic forces of our time (The Nation) -an eerie. unforgettable story of possession. power. and loss in early-twentieth-century Princeton. a cultural crossroads of the powerful and the damnedPrinceton. New Jersey. at the turn of the twentieth century:. a tranquil place to raise a family. a genteel town for genteel souls But something dark and dangerous lurks at the edges of the town. corrupting and infecting its residents Vampires and ghosts haunt the dreams of the innocent A powerful curse besets the elite families of Princeton;... their daughters begin disappearing A young bride on the verge of the altar is seduced and abducted by a dangerously compelling man-a shape-shifting. vaguely European prince who might just be the devil. and who spreads his...

About this title

Review:

‘Oates has written what may be the world’s first postmodern Gothic novel... dense, challenging, problematic, horrifying, funny, prolix and full of crazy people. You should read it ...feverishly entertaining’ Stephen King, New York Times Book Review

‘A belated candidate for the Great Oates Novel ... a big, mad, colourful romp, respectful of the literary traditions in which it participates, leavened with a piquant humour. It may not be the definitive work to crown the singularly fascinating Oates oeuvre but, for the uninitiated, it is a great place to begin’ David Evans, Financial Times

‘Enthralling ... it is both a commentary on the art of Gothic fiction, and a marvellously sustained piece of Gothic writing itself. We await the next novel with renewed excitement’ Stephen Abell, Sunday Telegraph

‘Oates is not a genre writer, but like most writers sincerely engaged in the job of telling stories, she isn’t afraid of genre motifs, and ‘The Accursed’ is packed to the gills with them ...a large number of the narrative riffs are powerful and absorbing...it’s clear throughout these six hundred-plus pages that, as always, Oates intimately knows her characters and the worlds they inhabit’ Literary Review

‘This is Postmodern Gothic at its most supreme, a riotous yet scholarly ride through turn-of-the-20th century Princeton ... Oates is having great baroque fun here, but the scholarly range of her tale is astonishing as she again makes the combination of research and risk-taking look natural and easy’ Lesley McDowell, Independent on Sunday

‘A thrilling tale in the best gothic tradition, a lesson in master craftsmanship...The story sprawls, reaches, demands, tears, and shrieks in homage to the traditional gothic, yet with fresh, surprising twists and turns... Hang on for the ride’ Publishers Weekly

‘Gothic, macabre epic’ Observer

About the Author:

Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including ‘We Were the Mulvaneys’, which was an Oprah Book Club Choice, and ‘Blonde’, which was nominated for the National Book Award. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins USA
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0062263447
• ISBN 13: 9780062263445
• Binding: Paperback