them
Joyce Carol Oates · b. 1938 · United States
Why it matters
A Detroit family scrapes through poverty, violence, and the 1967 riots across three decades, based partly on the real life of one of Oates's students. A blistering, unsentimental epic that won her the National Book Award at thirty-one.
At a glance
psychological noveltragedy
Difficulty 6/10medium pace508 pagesDense, feverish prose tracks a Detroit family across two violent decades.
Deep dive
Why Oates keeps interrupting her own novel to argue with it, and what Maureen's flat, unhappy ending says about the American dream of getting out.
Where to go next
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Stefan Zweig · 1942Chess StoryLvl 4Fast paced