A day in the life of Jerome “Corky” Corcoran is quite a day indeed. It’s Memorial Day, 1992. Marilee Plummer, a black woman who had recently accused a black city council member of raping her, has apparently committed suicide. Corky doesn’t make any political friends when he calls for a full investigation. Nothing’s going right for Corky. He feels betrayed by his lover, his financial empire is in trouble and his troubled step-daughter is causing him grief. Corky has never gotten over his father’s cold-blooded murder and he may soon discover some answers.

Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite authors but I can’t say that this is one of my favorite novels of hers. It’s a very uncomfortable book to read and Corky is a very hard character to like. He’s a womanizer, he’s patronizing, he’s conceited although he also hates himself, he’s racist and he has a horribly foul mouth. I felt like I was being assaulted by the hard language used throughout this story. On Corky’s behalf, he’s a self-made millionaire and has come a long way from his difficult start. This book is over 600 pages (it’s a reprint, having first been published in 1994) and there were times I wasn’t sure I could spend any more time with this guy. I’ve always known that Ms. Oates is a brave author and I think this is probably one of her bravest efforts. But I’m not at all sure that Corky warranted such attention. I wish I could have come to care about Corky. The first chapter of this book is a heartrending one but it wasn’t enough for me to justify what Corky becomes as an adult.

This must be the first Joyce Carol Oates book that I didn’t love. Sorry, Ms. Oates. I do appreciate the opportunity to read this work of a well-loved author.

This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review. ( )

When I picked this book up at the remainder table at my local book store, I was attracted to it because it was a heavy fat book. I had heard of Joyce Carol Oates but did not know much about her.
I ended up being very satisfied by this book, and it motivated me to read We Were the Mulvaneys.
After living inside the head of Jerome "Corky" Corcoran for several hundred pages, one certainly has a good idea, not only of the facts and events of his life, but also of his emotional makeup. Ample details are provided. Of course everything is ample about Joyce Carol Oates and her output of works. An extra large stack of novels and short stories and other writings. No minimalism here.
I find it intriguing that she worked at the University of Windsor for a period of time. I read an interview done with her at that time. I wonder if the University of Windsor knew what caliber of novelist they had, coming as she did to them at the beginning of a very long career. Almost every other review I have read also confirmed that all of the other readers also felt no boredom despite the extra large output of words both within a single work, but also across a span of reading many works.
Corky has many faults, and I could relate to him because I also feel like there are many responsibilities that I should be taking care of better, but due to a lack of time, and lack of confidence in the results actually working out in the desired way, sometimes I just give up and go for an indulgence of some of my vices. Humanity at its best and at its worst.

Found one other helpful review at:
http://bookworld.typepad.com/book_world/2007/11/what-i-lived-fo.html

How does Oates do it? For 600+ pages, she not only crawls into the male psyche, but into an alcoholic male's mind and body, and produces a credible/incredible novel. I admire her workmanship tremendously.
With all that said, I despised the crappy ending. ( )

Ett djuplodande porträtt av en halvlyckad, alkoholiserad man i ett typsikt USA. Romanen utspelar sig under en långhelg 1992 med återkommande återblickar och tekniskt klarar Oates detta med bravur (förstås). Historien är för det mesta intressant också, vi lär känna huvudkaraktären väldigt väl, det är nästan som man håller till inne i huvudet på honom. Men man gillar honom inte alltid. En intressant känsla.
Oates blick för det amerikanska (sitt) samhället är skarpt, och hennes beskrivning av det känns mitt i prick. Jag har sagt det förr: förståelsen för det amerikanska samhället är viktigare än vi tror för att förstå oss själva - på gott och ont. Så mycket spiller den amerikanska kulturen trots allt över oss.

Ibland blir JCO lite pratig... beskrivningarna kan bli lite långrandiga... Det gör att det inte kan bli toppbetyg. ( )

darkly comic, begins in 1959
black & white intermingled by murder

1.94 ( )