Every single one of you has or has not cheated. Every single one of you has or has not experienced disloyalty. Every single one of you has or has not been suspicious. Every single one of you has or has not cried yourself to sleep. Every single one of you has or has not wanted more than anything to know the truth. Nothing but the bitter truth.


Recently I have been taking my time with Joyce Carol Oates' novel "American Appetites"(1989). Although thoroughly obsessed and well into the novel, I am still finding myself tossing and turning in an unwilling contemplation of one line. One single line. One seemingly simple line has left me constantly wondering, thinking, destructing, reconstructing and trying to understand one thought. Through the trials, trivial or severe, that I have experienced in all my relationships I have never so shortly been able to express this single feeling, reaction. In "American Appetites" Joyce Carol Oates so freely, so smoothly puts a single thought (although well reversed) into one line.

"To enter another in love is to violate the other in pain and bring about at once, or in time, irrevocable loss."

If I had spent my entire (although short) time as a journalism major attempting one line representing disloyalty, I could have never come up with something so eloquent, so beautiful, so understanding, so true or so romantic. Never could I have ever put such a troubled emotion into this simple a line.

I will absolutely suggest any Joyce Carol Oates essay, poem, short story to any person, but as the first novel read, I have to say I could not, without even finishing, suggest a better novel. I am currently only 150 pages into this story. On average, I read two to five books a week. It has been a very long time since a novel has expended so much time. Oates has absolutely, without a doubt, collected every ounce of my attention, thought and contemplation. The only two pieces I can even compare to the poetry this book extends are "Labyrinths" by Borges and "Jitterbug Perfume" by Robbins. This will remain a staple in my library.

I suggest you find a copy of "American Appetites" by Joyce Carol Oates and experience this for yourself.