A Book of American Martyrs

2017 novel by Joyce Carol Oates

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A Book of American Martyrs

First edition

Author| Joyce Carol Oates
Publisher| Ecco Press

Published in English

| 2017

A Book of American Martyrs is a 2017 novel by the American author, Joyce Carol Oates. The story chronicles two American families, the Voorheeses and the Dunphys, whose faith and convictions are vastly different. The story begins with the aftermath of the November 1999 murder of Dr. Gus Voorhees by Luther Amos Dunphy.

Broadly, Oates' story explores the abortion debate in the United States, with a primary focus on exploring the growing divide and conflict between advocates and opponents of legal abortion care services, as well as anti-abortion violence.[1] The story is set in a small town in Ohio where the Dunphy family lives and throughout Michigan where the Voorhees family lives.

## Reception

[edit]

Erica Wagner of The Guardian noted that the novel does not live up to its potential, writing, "This is a gripping novel, full of unexpected twists that make what could be a political treatise into a page-turner. And it is as honest as its author can make it, or so the reader must believe; but that's an honesty that only goes so far."[2]

Writing for The New York Times, Ayana Mathis describes how "The shifting kaleidoscope of voices is at once illuminating and dizzying. Oates may be betting the multitude of perspectives will help us see around our blinders and prejudices about the Other. The question is, who is the Other, and according to whom? In some respects, Oates's bet pays off." However, Mathis continues, "There is a great deal of smugness in all of this, and worse, a dangerous paternalism. The Other, in this case, the white working poor, with all of its religion and pathologies, has been summarily dismissed as an ignorant horde in need of (liberal) guidance. Oates's lengthy attempt at insights into these lives devolves into dehumanizing caricature."[3]

The Washington Post's Ron Charles praises the novel, concluding that, "To enter this masterpiece is to be captivated by the paradox of that tragic courage and to become invested in Oates's search for some semblance of atonement, secular or divine. Regardless of your own faith or politics, the real miracle here is how, even after 700 pages, we can still be racing along, steeling ourselves for the very last line, a line we’re desperate to reach — but not too soon."[4]

Paste magazine's Bridey Heing commends Oates' ability to navigate both sides of a deeply polarizing topic, noting how, "Ultimately, Oates does not moralize, and this isn't a book that will comfort those who are strong in their beliefs. But in that lies the book's value. At a time when we as a society feel so ideologically distant and yet are told that we have more in common than all that divides us, this novel rings true without being weighed down by sentimentality."[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Mathis, Ayana (February 16, 2017). "Joyce Carol Oates's Novel Plumbs the Depths of America's Abortion War". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
\- Wagner, Erica (June 11, 2017). "A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates review – gripping fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
\- Scholes, Lucy (May 31, 2017). "A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates, book review: It's perhaps not the novel about the abortion debate some might have been hoping for". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
2. ^ "A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates review – gripping fiction". The Guardian. June 11, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
3. ^ Mathis, Ayana (February 16, 2017). "Joyce Carol Oates's Novel Plumbs the Depths of America's Abortion War (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
4. ^ Charles, Ron (January 31, 2017). "Joyce Carol Oates's new novel arrives splattered with our country's hot blood". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
5. ^ "An Act of Violence Highlights Both Sides of the Abortion Debate in Joyce Carol Oates' A Book of American Martyrs". Paste. February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2021.