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Black Dahlia & White Rose: Stories Audiobook
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(3.01) - 287 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
“A mesmerizing storyteller who seems almost unnaturally able to enter the tormented inner lives of her characters.”
—Denver Post
Black Dahlia & White Rose is a brilliant collection of short fiction from National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates, one of the most acclaimed writers of our time. These stores, at once lyrical and unsettling, shine with the author’s trademark fascination with finding the unpredictable amidst the prosaic—from her imaginative recreation of friendship between two tragically doomed young women (Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Short), to the tale of an infidelity as deeply human as it is otherworldly. Black Dahlia & White Rose is a major offering from one of the most important artists in contemporary American literature; a superb collection that showcases Joyce Carol Oates’s ferocious energy and darkly imaginative storytelling power.
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"Wow. Oates has not lost her touch. The title story is her take on the famous Black Dahlia murder, which has never been solved. She inserts Norma Jean Baker (the White Rose) as the roommate of the Black Dahlia, and suggests that a passive voyeur gains access to both of the women through a photographer. Gripping story! The other standout is "Hyenas: a Romance." Yes, those hyenas. A woman has a vivid vision of a lycanthropic sort that spurs her to look up a friend from her past. The line between animal and man/woman has never been so artfully displayed."
— Becky (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Unsettling, potent, and suspenseful, these well-crafted and haunting stories attest to Oates’ superior imagination and mastery of the craft, and provide a welcome addition to her oeuvre.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“All three engagingly portray the psychological, and sometimes physical, hardships depicted in these domestic dramas of contemporary America. Oates’ stories are not cheery, nor are they completely dark. They dwell in a twilight of unresolvable real life. The narrators convey this mood with somber readings that reflect the book’s intriguing depictions of the not-so-pretty lives we lead.”
— AudioFile -
“[A] masterfully honed collection of dark tales…With precision and force, the ever-mesmerizing Oates rips open the scrim of ordinariness to expose the chaos that undermines every human notion of control, reason, and sanctuary.”
— Booklist -
“This latest collection…showcases [Oates’] talent for imbuing mundane events with menace and the kind of irony that springs from narrow brushes with disaster…Oates’ hypnotic prose ensures that readers will be unable to look away.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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A 2012 Bram Stoker Award Nominee
Black Dahlia & White Rose Listener Reviews
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" She is the master. I cannot say any more that hasn't already been said, and why she hasn't won the Nobel yet is beyond me. Simply awe-inspiring. "
— Lisa, 2/20/2014 -
" Gave up half way through. "
— Danielle, 2/20/2014 -
" J.C. Oates is always dark, but always worth reading. Once again, she writes beautifully about Marilyn Monroe's life and imagined thoughts (the White Rose part). "
— Carol, 2/5/2014 -
" Easy read of short stories. The books namesake story is the best of the bunch. "
— Anna, 2/1/2014 -
" I really enjoy the way Joyce Carol Oates writes with such abandon and creativity, exploring the human psyche without a care for social etiquette while never seeming to strive for intentional shock value. But the short story format rarely leaves me satisfied. Fascinating at times, but give me at least a novelette. "
— Jane, 1/30/2014 -
" Good, collection of short stories previously published in various magazines. "
— Peg, 1/22/2014 -
" Especially loved the cover story. "
— patty, 1/22/2014 -
" some of the stories were good but some not so great "
— Gerry, 1/15/2014 -
" Amazing stories, absolutely riveting and thought provoking...filled with the dark side and mystery of life. Could not put this book down and fortunately it was easy to read in one sitting! "
— Michelle, 1/6/2014 -
" Ms. Oates short story telling skills are incredible. Very deep and make you really think about where she leaves each story off. The reader then takes it to the next level with their thoughts on how it it ends. Many unique subjects that are given as fiction, suspense and other writing styles. "
— Susan, 12/31/2013 -
" I had never read any Joyce Carol Oates (I know, the horror!), but this compilation of short stories was not impressive. Everything after Alice Munro's recent short story compilation is subpar. "
— Monica, 12/28/2013 -
" JCO is a really dark place in her life right now, and that focus on sadness, loss, death is reflected in her work. The them for these stories was the cruelty of loneliness, the failed attempts at making a connection with the people around you. "
— Suicide, 12/15/2013 -
" Self-indulgent writing. Shallow. Choppy. Cranked out. "
— Katharine, 12/4/2013 -
" If one reads enough JCO books, their tone begins to sound similar.....but NEVER boring! "
— Sue, 12/3/2013 -
" Some were better than others. I know these were "short" stories, but many of them seem to end as if the last page of the story was missing. Overall it was good (3 stars) and I'm glad I read it. "
— Deedee, 10/14/2013 -
" A collection of odd short stories. They are quick reads; some of them have rather unusual outcomes. "
— Marcus, 9/15/2013 -
" This book was okay. She often writes stories that leave me saying WTF? They just end out of nowhere. The first story which is the namesake of the book was wonderful. If she had just followed that into a novel it would have been five stars. "
— Janet, 9/2/2013 -
" Some good stories. Some good odd stories. Some merely odd stories. "
— Barbara, 7/30/2013 -
" The stories here were hit-or-miss, but it was ultimately an enjoyable collection. "
— Ashley, 6/24/2013 -
" As much as I like Joyce Carol Oates writing style...this collection of short stories fell short of my expectations. They were well written and left a lot to ponder, but were just too dark for me. "
— Kristine, 6/20/2013 -
" I gave up on this book after story 5. I don't like stories without endings, so JCO is not an author I will read again. I really wasn't too thrilled with story progressions. Just not my style whatsoever. "
— Jan, 5/13/2013 -
" Just not a short stories fan. Some were better than others, but not exactly memorable to me. "
— Juliegsorensen, 3/24/2013 -
" The stories in part 3 didn't thrill me, but the rest were captivating snippets of a melange of emotional stastes. "
— Deby, 2/26/2013 -
" A nice collection, although nothing grabbed me or stuck with me. If you like Joyce Carol Oates, or need a short story collection, give it a whirl, but don't rush out to find it. "
— Blair, 9/29/2012
About Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates, an award-winning author of fiction, nonfiction, short stories, plays, and novellas, is the author of some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including two New York Times bestsellers. Her books have won the National Book Award, O. Henry Award, the Jerusalem Prize, and the National Humanities Medal, among others. Her work has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize several times. She has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.
About the Narrators
Paul Michael Garcia, an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and former company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, received his classical training in theater from Southern Oregon University, where he worked as an actor, director, and designer.
Coleen Marlo is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator who has been nominated for an Audie Award twice, winning in 2011. She has been awarded three Listen-Up Awards from Publishers Weekly, an AudioFile Audiobook of the Year Award in 2011, and was named Audiobook Narrator of the Year for 2010 by Publishers Weekly. She is a member of the prestigious Actors Studio and taught acting for ten years at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Marlo is a proud founding member of Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry and Technology.
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.