Evil Eye von Joyce Carol Oates

Readers know that few authors are able to create an atmosphere of unease and terror as well as Oates, a fact confirmed by the four novellas presented here. In the title story, "Evil Eye," a young woman has recently become the fourth wife of a highly demanding man. When his first wife comes to stay with them, she warns the new bride that her husband is insane, and that she must find a way to protect herself. In "So Near Anytime Always," a fateful meeting in a library leads to a boy's obsessive interest in a teenage girl. In "The Execution," spoiled college student Bart Hansen has forgotten to factor in one person in his plan to commit the perfect, brutal crime: his mother. And in "The Flatbed," a beautiful young woman struggles with frigidity until a shocking act releases her.All the novellas in this collection revolve around the theme of love gone wrong--horribly, shockingly wrong.

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.