Where are you going where have you been amazon

Joyce Carol Oates’s prize-winning story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” takes up troubling subjects that continue to occupy her in her fiction: the romantic longings and limited options of adolescent women; the tensions between mothers and daughters; the sexual victimization of women; and the American obsession with violence.  Inspired by a magazine story about a serial killer, its remarkable portrait of the dreamy teenager Connie has made it a feminist classic.  Connie’s life anticipates the emergence of American society from the social innocence of the fifties into the harsher contemporary realities of war, random violence, and crime.  The story was the basis for the movie Smooth Talk, which became the subject of much feminist debate.

This casebook includes an introduction by the editor, a chronology of Oates’s life, an authoritative text of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” an essay by Oates on Smooth Talk, the original Life article about the serial killer, ten critical essays (including two about the film), and a bibliography.

The contributors are Brenda O. Daly, Christina Marsden Gillis, Don Moser, Tom Quirk, B. Ruby Rich, R.J.R. Rockwood, Larry Rubin, Gretchen Schulz, Marie Mitchell Oleson Urbanski, Joyce M. Wegs, Marilyn C. Wesley, and Joan D. Winslow.

Delivery September 23 - 27

Condition: Open Box: Good

Comment: Underlining and margin notes in pencil throughout. Book in very good condition. Cover is in very good condition. Binding is tight. Ships direct from Amazon! Eligible for Free Prime/Super Saver Shipping!

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1.0 out of 5 stars A much regretted purchase

Reviewed in the United States on 12 November 2020

Verified Purchase

A couple of years ago, I saw the story of Charles Schmid, Jr., “The Pied Piper of Tucson” on ID Channel. Earlier this year I read a book by the same title by Harold Schechter; a must-read if you want a written version. A few days ago, I read “I, a Squealer” by Richard Bruns, who was a close friend and minor accomplice of “Smitty’s”. Although it did have a couple of pictures and bits of information I hadn’t previously been exposed to, overall, it’s like an afterthought. Read it after Mr. Schechter’s book, or heck, not at all. You wouldn’t be missing much. Somehow, I came across this book. I’d heard of Joyce Carol Oates, and of this short story, but didn’t know until a few days ago that it was based on Schmid. Of course, I had to read it. I couldn’t find it anywhere for less than $12 for a physical copy (my local library didn’t even have it!), so I bit the bullet and bought the Kindle version for $14.95 so I could start on it immediately. Know what else started immediately? My disappointment.
I will be honest: I only partially read the introduction, as I rarely ever read book introductions. It was 98% about Oates, and the 2% that was about Schmid – what I was interested in – was grievously abridged & wrong. And it was ridiculously long! (About 30 pages on an iPhone Kindle) I read the chronology of Oates’ life and found it interesting. Then I read the story. This was by an award-winning writer? Was award criteria very lax in those days? By Oates’ own admission, she never read the entire magazine article about Schmid, so she wouldn’t be “distracted by too much detail”. This would explain why the story is so bad! The writing is not good, rambling in some places, stilted in others. Her “protagonist” is Connie, a 15 year old girl who is extremely unlikeable. Oates herself described her as “shallow, vain, silly, hopeful…” She’s also lazy and disrespectful, so how is anyone supposed to feel any type of sympathy for her? Two out of three of Schmid’s victims were not like this girl. Arnold Friend is apparently some 30 year old pedophile with a 40 year old (or so Connie thinks) best friend who’s been stalking Connie, and knows a disturbing amount about her entire life. Schmid was only a few years out of high school – 23 when he was caught – and his 2 male accomplices were 19. And at no point did Schmid ever go to anyone’s house, tell them that he planned to have his way with them, and threaten to kill their entire family and burn down their house if they didn’t cooperate. I guess Oates wanted to make her bad guy as bad as she could imagine. Even worse? There is absolutely no resolve to the story. There is no ending; we don’t know what happened to or with Connie, or if she even walks out the door. It only alludes to it. The fact that this was the end of the story and yet, the story is so highly revered, is mind boggling to me.
Next is the “background to the story”, which is a chapter taken from a book about the Schmid case by Don Moser. This was annoying because so many facts were either wrong or completely left out. The next chapter is Oates discussing the short story and the movie based on it, “Smooth Talk”. She admits that there’s no suggestion in her story that Arnold Friend has “seduced and murdered other young girls, or that he necessarily intends to murder Connie.” She states that the story “defines itself as allegorical in its conclusion: Death…has come for the maiden.” What a bunch of bull. After this chapter is 9 critical essays all about the short story. I was definitely not interested in any of them. I didn’t care anymore, I was too upset about my $14.95 I spent on this drivel.

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Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been how many pages?

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