New York Times Literary Treat of the Week.....

This collection of prose by one of the most prolific writers of the last half-century could not have had a better title. The reader meets Oates before and in the aftermath of the death of her husband of 48 years, Ontario Review founder/editor Raymond Smith.
In reviewing the Annie Leibovitz exhibition and book "A Photographer's Life" (available at Merrick Library) Oates takes significant note of photos taken of her late friend, writer/intellectual Susan Sontag. Another piece looks at the hoarding Collyer brothers whose obsessions led to their joint demise. Balancing out such mortality rooted contributions are insights into current authors such as Annie Proulx and Margaret Atwood and past masters including Edgar Allan Poe, Roald Dahl and Flannery O'Connor. Oates praises Emily Dickinson especially as a a role model of "female stoicism and pragmatism."

Merrick Library carries many volumes by Joyce Carol Oates including the following recent titles:

Dear Husband: Stories
A Fair Maiden (novel)
Little Bird of Heaven (novel)
My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skylar Rampike (novel)
Wild Nights: Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James and Hemingway

Reviewed by Librarian, Bob.