A Widow's Story

A Memoir

By: Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by: Ellen Parker

Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

In a work unlike anything she's written before, National Book Award-winner Joyce Carol Oates unveils a poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of her husband of 46 years and its wrenching, surprising aftermath.

"My husband died, my life collapsed." On a February morning in 2008, Joyce Carol Oates drove her ailing husband, Raymond Smith, to the emergency room of the Princeton Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Both Joyce and Ray expected him to be released in a day or two. But in less than a week, even as Joyce was preparing for his discharge, Ray died from a virulent hospital-acquired infection, and Joyce was suddenly faced - totally unprepared - with the stunning reality of widowhood.

A Widow's Story illuminates one woman's struggle to comprehend a life without the partnership that had sustained and defined her for nearly half a century. As never before, Joyce Carol Oates shares the derangement of denial, the anguish of loss, the disorientation of the survivor amid a nightmare of "death-duties", and the solace of friendship. She writes unflinchingly of the experience of grief - the almost unbearable suspense of the hospital vigil, the treacherous "pools" of memory that surround us, the vocabulary of illness, the absurdities of commercialized forms of mourning. Here is a frank acknowledgment of the widow's desperation, only gradually yielding to the recognition that "this is my life now."

Enlivened by the piercing vision, acute perception, and mordant humor that are the hallmarks of the work of Joyce Carol Oates, this moving tale of life and death, love and grief, offers a candid, never-before-glimpsed view of the acclaimed author and fiercely private woman.

©2011 The Ontario Review, Inc. (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Amazing

Joyce Carol Oates is an amazing author. Ellen Parker did a wonderful job narrating this piece! Truly wonderful

I chose this book as my first Widow’s Book to read

So many things the same for those who experience the loss of a spouse, a comfort and difficult at times. Oates’ writing, her voice almost became mine, got in my head. My first encounter with her books was when reading “Do with me what you will” when not much past Nancy Drew and then picking it up again, forgotten in my late 20s so it was very dreamy and like deja vu. I liked the narrator’s reading of “A Widow’s Story.”

Outstanding!

A masterful story, beautifully read. For all who wish to know how to write a memoir.

If you line Whiny women, then this is for you

Would you try another book from Joyce Carol Oates and/or Ellen Parker?

Yes, I would def. try her other books.

What was most disappointing about Joyce Carol Oates’s story?

The protagonist was a whiny, oh whoa is me, woman.

Would you be willing to try another one of Ellen Parker’s performances?

sure

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment, boredom, annoyance

Any additional comments?

I would not recommend this book AT ALL

Do not get this book!!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I thought this book would be about a great love in her life and how she coped with his loss, but it just droned on and on. I really can't think who would enjoy this - much too depressing for widows, or young people.

Has A Widow's Story turned you off from other books in this genre?

I do not think that I care for Joyce Carol Oates - I would not read another of her stories

Would you be willing to try another one of Ellen Parker’s performances?

Yes, but must be a different type of book.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from A Widow's Story?

The endless doning on and on - the constant repetition of every little thing.

Any additional comments?

Would not recommend this book to anyone. My sister also listened to the first few chapters and could not take it anymore.

sad and dull

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think someone who is already a widow or has experienced the loss of a loved one, would like this book......I really thought it might give me more of a feeling of appreciation for my family and husband while they are still healthy and happy. Not! It was just really boring....

What could Joyce Carol Oates have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Nothing, it was just a bad choice on my part. Someone who has experienced loss may enjoy this book.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Ellen Parker?

Ellen Parker was not the person to read this book. I could not even try to enjoy this book with Ellen reading it....Maybe Jane Fonda or Kim Cattrall

Any additional comments?

If the person reading this book had done a better job I think the book may have been a bit more interesting...Maybe a paperback would work better..

I'm sorry!

I didn't enjoy this. Which was surprising to me. I thought it drab. It dragged on. I understand this woman is in pain, I sympathize, but I felt like it was just so... Dull and boorish. Also there was no mention of her marrying shortly afterwards which I felt was in a sense, a breach of the narrative promise. Sorry joyce.

Not only a racist but JCO a shameless name dropper

I've read a few novels by JCO and enjoyed them so, being a recent widow myself, I thought I'd like to read of her take on widowhood. Boy, was I shocked by her racist observations. Her portrayal of the Haitian nurse's aid who tended her husband at The Princeton Medical Center was harsh, insensitive and uncalled for. If said aid had been a white woman would Oates have been so bothered by the woman's chatterbox ways? I was tempted to stop listening after she first let me know how she felt about non-whites. But, I thought no, let's see how this plays out.Oate's remarks of ALL the Black people at the probate court struck me too. "But the office was in Trenton", she said with such disdain. It was almost too much for the poor little widow from Pennington to bear. Would the Chinese doctor tge dhe encountered in Princton have been less credible if we didn't know his ethnic background? Any why do white writers feel it necessary to identify the race or ethnicity of characters of they are not white?
JCO to me suffers from low self esteem although she has no qualms from staking her claim in the white privilege pool. Her countless listing of her celebrity friends was shameful but also pretty pathetic. Her "woe is me" about the loss of her husband of 48 years was curious to me. Her inability to be in her private life nothing but 1/2 of a couple was sad. I found that I could learn nothing from JCO on how to navigate widowhood. And after finishing this book I did a bit of research on Oates. And yes she's quite the racist.