Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates
#92 in my book challenge for the year, Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates was much darker than the young adult novel by Oates I’d read previously, Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. While it has similar themes of persecution and rumor, it is told entirely from the point of view of its main character, Darren Flynn. He is good looking and an athlete, but uncomfortable both about the attention his looks attract as well as his working-class family. Darren is a complex, interesting character, and at the end of the book Oates does not offer up easy answers for the many difficult questions she’s raised.
December 16th, 2005 at 1:35 pm
i really don’t like joyce carol oates’ writing. the only thing of hers i can stand to read is the book on boxing.
December 21st, 2005 at 5:20 pm
These are the first two I’ve read, and they do encourage me to want to read more. She’s challenging, and very dark, but that might overwhelm in a longer, more complex work.