AMERICAN MELANCHOLY

A new collection of poetry from an American literary legend | her first in twenty-five yearsJoyce Carol Oates is one of our most insightful observers of the human heart and mind | and | with her acute social consciousness | one of the most insistent and inspired witnesses of a shared American history.Oates is perhaps best known for her prodigious output of novels and short stories | many of which have become contemporary classics. However | Oates has also always been a faithful writer of poetry. American Melancholy showcases some of her finest work of the last few decades.Covering subjects big and small | and written in an immediate and engaging style | this collection touches on both the personal and political. Loss | love | and memory are investigated | along with the upheavals of our modern age | the reality of our current predicaments | and the ravages of poverty | racism | and social unrest. Oates skillfully writes characters ranging from a former doctor at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army hospital to Little Albert | a six-month-old infant who took part in a famous study that revealed evidence of classical conditioning in human beings.