Fourth Estate My Life as a Rat

Reads like a memoir or true crime biography. Once I got used to the strange writing style I raced through the pages. It's a well-written story with great characterisation and an intriguing and original plot.

The thinness of black characters.

Ein grossartige literarisches Werk. Und es liest sich wie ein Krimi, spannend bis zur letzten Zeile. Dabei menschlich tief berührend.

Joyce Carol Oates has written a deep study of the genesis of American socio-economic division. In the Kerrigans, she might as well be describing the average Trump voter with his/her strong resentments, persecution complex, shame at social status discrepancy, intense hatred directed at those who have education, incapability of feelings of common humanity, and "them against us" attitude. Oates reveals her horror and intense anger at the results of a patriarchy in which boys are raised to be ignorant and violent while girls are raised to be submissive and compliant.

This is a book about race relations, as well as family relations, in the 1990s. I have not yet finished it but want folks to know that racial discrimination is an integral part of the story. I gave it five stars because it is written by Joyce Carol Oates. I love her prose. Even if she was discussing the weather, I would give her five stars. There is no other like her. I'm waiting for her to get a Pulitzer Prize, which (by God) better be imminent.