Dec 29, 2009

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? | Critical Overview

Oates's novel about urban life and murder, them, had won the 1970 National Book Award, so it was no surprise that her next collection of short stories, The Wheel of Love, which appeared later that year, received much attention. The book was widely reviewed, and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" was often identified as one of its greatest successes. Some critics were disturbed by the violence that marked the entire collection--a common criticism leveled against many of Oates's works—and by the extreme situations and emotions experienced by a central character in...