Expensive People by Joyce Carol Oates

Expensive People by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates's Wonderland Quartet comprises four remarkable novels that explore social class in America and the inner lives of young Americans. In Expensive People, Oates takes a provocative and suspenseful look at the roiling secrets of America's affluent suburbs. Set in the late 1960s, this first-person confession is narrated by Richard Everett, a precocious and obese boy who sees himself as a minor character in the alarming drama unfolding around him.

Fascinated by yet alienated from his attractive, self-absorbed parents and the privileged world they inhabit, Richard incisively analyzes his own mismanaged childhood, his pretentious private schooling, his successful-executive father, and his elusive mother. In an act of defiance and desperation, eleven-year-old Richard strikes out in a way that presages the violence of ever-younger Americans in the turbulent decades to come.

A National Book Award finalist, Expensive People is a stunning combination of social satire and gothic horror. You cannot put this novel away after you have opened it, said The Detroit News. This is that kind of book-hypnotic, fascinating, and electrifying.

Expensive People is the second novel in the Wonderland Quartet. The books that complete this acclaimed series, A Garden of Earthly Delights, them, and Wonderland, are also available from the Modern Library.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780812976540
ISBN 10	0812976541
Title	Expensive People
Author	Joyce Carol Oates
Series	The Wonderland Quartet
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2006-09-12
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.