Favorite Reads Giveaway: We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

I have tried to be a Joyce Carol Oates fan. The truth is, I am not. Her writing and her books are as varied as they come. She has written adult, YA, essays, literary fiction, mystery, poetry, short stories -- you name it. As a result, I can never count on liking books by her. The style and subject matter vary so much that I just never know.

However, I read We Were the Mulvaneys way back in high school, and I absolutely fell in love. Written in semi-stream of consciousness, it was to me a successful attempt at writing something different. (This was in direct opposition to Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, also written in stream-of-consciousness and utterly baffling.)

A short synopsis (from Wikipedia):

"The Mulvaneys, a family living in the small, rural town of Mt. Ephraim, New York, during the later part of the 20th century, are the perfect family: four kids, the owners of a successful roofing business, and a high social status. We Were the Mulvaneys tells the tale of the demise of this perfect family—an incident that is hushed up in town and never spoken of again. It is this incident that shatters the family fabric with tragic consequences."

We Were the Mulvaneys is not a happy fairy tale of a book. It is, once again, not a book my mom would touch with a ten-foot pole. Although we often like the same books, she loathes the kind of books I so often love -- dark tales with small rays of hope.

This novel was, as many of my older favorite reads were, an Oprah's Book Club choice in 2001. It was also made into a Lifetime Television movie starring Beau Bridges and Blythe Danner, which received three Emmy nominations. It is available for purchase at Amazon. (This is such a cool thing I am discovering about my old favorite reads and film versions; often they can be found on DVD!)

Oates' book marks the fifth week of my Favorite Reads Giveaway series. Last week's winner of Connie May Fowler's Before Women Had Wings was Michael McNally. Michael, the email address I tried for you bounced back to me. Send me an email at awornpathbooks at gmail dot com with your mailing address, and I will send it out to you!

To win We Were the Mulvaneys, fill out the form below: