Is there any type of writing that Joyce Carol Oates doesn’t knock out of the park? Any genre, any form? Her skills are best displayed when she delves into the mysteries of the human mind and the behaviors that follow. She accesses those recesses better than anyone. Which explains why she has won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Life Achievement award, among many others. ZERO SUM, a collection of powerful and spellbinding short stories, is the perfect example of her skills. If you are a fan, these stories will burnish your love of her writing. If not, this is an excellent introduction to the works of one of America’s greatest writers. I could not recommend this more highly.

DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series

Zero Sum was a wonderful collection of stories that explore some darker aspects of what we experience emotionally. Some of these stories were downright heartbreaking in the raw emotional category. While I generally enjoyed them, the longer story in the middle brought the momentum to an abrupt halt, and it took a while to get into reading the book again.

When you open a Joyce Carol Oates book you are never sure what you are getting into. The description may be a very ho-hum summary, the first chapter may detail a somewhat boring person. In this case, of short stories, many begin with a singular voice, someone you might not notice necessarily or even like. But like all Oats books, there is much lurking beneath the surface - a almost shrill anxiety and fragility that can only lead to violence.

Such are the zero-sum games played in these stories. Brilliant shorts about those who are fully committed to the solution to the problem they have identified. Whether or not they are correct is for you to decide. I guarantee you will enjoy this story set and perhaps reread a few again and again. The young women will certainly haunt me for sometime. If you love JCO or are a fan of the bizarre, the surreal or the very banal with a twist, Zero Sum is for you! #Knopf #Pantheon #JoyceCarolOates #ZeroSum

A brilliant young philosophy student bent on seducing her famous philosopher-mentor finds herself outmaneuvered; diabolically clever high school girls wreak a particularly apt sort of vengeance on sexual predators in their community; a woman stalked by a would-be killer may be confiding in the wrong former lover; a young woman is morbidly obsessed by her unfamiliar new role as “mother.” In the collection’s longest story, a much-praised cutting-edge writer cruelly experiments with “drafts” of his own suicide.

This compilation of stories from other sources showcases Joyce Carol Oates's wide range, amazing. I must admit to enjoying more her grounded stories, those about new mothers suffering from postpartum depression (amazing considering she's never had children how she nailed that), or star struck students, daughters finding out the truth of their existence. Her forays into the gothic or dystopian, while proficient, didn't hold me to the same degree, but she always impresses with her style, use of language, earthiness and organic description.

A great collection of short stories!
I you are a fan of Oates, read this!

I just reviewed Zero Sum by Joyce Carol Oates. #ZeroSum #NetGalley

A collection of short stories with some stories more appealing than others. No denying Joyce Carol Oates is a prolific and good writer; however I found the stories to be too dark for my taste.

Having heard a lot of good things about this author, I decided to read this collection of short stories. The stories vary in length, with one much longer than the others, but they are all captivating. As with any short story collection, I have my favorites — in this case, it would be the stories involving mothers and postpartum depression. The longest story, The Suicide, was my least favorite due to the repetitive nature and extremely bleak tone. The prose is excellent and focuses on the psychology of the characters, which I enjoy. Unlike the title may suggest, these stories are not fast paced, high stakes, psychological games, but much slower paced, introspective character pieces with the implementation of “zero-sum” in these stories being mostly abstract. Another thing the blurb fails to describe is the horror elements of most of these stories. Though there are no ghosts or supernatural happenings, the tone of all these stories is particularly dark and often gruesome too. This is not a traditional thriller, and it leans more toward literary fiction and horror. If you’re looking for a collection of short, disturbing stories with brilliant writing, this is a great choice.

I first read a short story by the incredibly prolific Joyce Carol Oates in 1980. Then I was overwhelmed by the emotional power of the work and for the intense focus she played on the troubled lives of married women-something I was not familiar with my reading at the time. Growing up I had pretty much read fiction written by men and Oate’s voice was something g I had never heard before. Her situations were not simple and her characters had to navigate very tricky situations.
So it was a great thrill when I was offered this latest collection by her and raw work in its entirety has not disappointed in the least. Joyce Carol Oates fills her stories with intriguing plot details,but it is the spinning of words that hold the reader spell-bound. It’s as if she is taking us along a path that will twist and turn in odd directions but we have complete faith in her as a narrator as her words are completely in control.
Each of these stories in this collection are exceptional,although I did find the final three,mostly lower drawer work-perhaps because they are the only ones written in a speculative vein which is a genre that doesn’t appeal to me.b her story about the mother sophomore just can’t tolerate having a baby child is the most chilling piece of fiction I’ve ever read since Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery several decades ago. It is so dark and nasty that it feels like it has come from a completely unrecognizable wicked world. But these are areas Oates is not afraid to venture into. I find very young writers try to write in this horror/gothic vein pushing the boundaries of what readers expect is normal,but there is a nastiness to their work-part of their show-of fess which I never feel Oates is trying to do.
By far the masterpiece of the collection is The Suicide-the collections novella and it us an extraordinary work that will be remembered as among her greatest work. The story with its twists and turns of contemplation of the end of a tortured life,is all about language and with the most incredible stream-of consciousness sentencing Oates takes us through the extraordinary working of the tormented author’s mind. There are passages where the author talks about the exhaustion of the need to write and without trying to impose too much on the author’s intent,it did make me wonder if she as a writer who is so incredibly prolific sometimes feels a similar exhaustion at feeling the need to create all the time. It is a long story which will benefit from multiple reads as the direction of the language is so masterfill but Oates makes it all seem so straightforward and easy to follow.vand like the story of the baby monitor,another harrowing,very disturbing story which reminded me of the extreme madness that overtakes the obsessive character in D.H. Lawrence’s Rocking House winner,there is redemption in the end. The readers expectation is that all will end in disaster but we are surprised by the story’s finale,even though we are encouraged to believe that only the worst things are going to come from this tale.
Joyce Carol Oates has been a master of writing since the seventies. For a long time critics make fun of her because she is so hugely prolific. And avlotnofbher work is on the dark side. I have always felt she is the most deserving of the Novotel,prize for not only the volume of her work which is incredible,but for the range of her work. The reader never knows sharp will come next when opening her work. And even though her writing can sometimes be very dark,I have always felt she has enormous compassion for the people she writes about. A beautiful,wonderful book. I can’t wait to read so much more of her work,

Zero Sum caught my attention as it is written by one of my favorite authors, critically acclaimed Joyce Carol Oates. She has published several novels under the pseudonyms Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Perfect if you have short amounts of time, this book is for bursts of reading, especially if you are busy or want to get out of a reading slump. There are a little over 10 short stories.

Oates writes with an enormous capacity to capture the human soul in striking prose, and this collection of short stories was no exception. The stories are addicting, running from psychopathic obsession, madness of motherhood, suicide, unknown things growing on scalps, weather catastrophies, and dystopian twists.

These stories seduced me into being fully immersed and will be contemplating the topics for a long while. Highly recommended for fans of Oates and others; this is thought provoking Oates at her best. A few of the stories were a little hard for me to follow, but overall a wonderful Oates book!

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Joyce Carol Oates is one of America's most prolific authors. Today she is still releasing high quality pieces of work.
Zero Sum is a nice collection of strong character stories. Powerful women surviving tough situations.
The style and meanings shouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone who has read her earlier pieces.
This collection is nice and fresh and reminds us of the impact Oates has on the writing world.