Black Water

By: Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by: Amanda Plummer

Twenty-six-year-old Kelly Kelleher longs for something interesting to happen to her, so when she meets a senator and he invites her to his hotel room, she says yes. Even though the man is old enough to be her father and even though he has perhaps been drinking too heavily, saying yes is an exciting part of the adventure Kelly is finally going to have. However, after the senator's car crashes through a guardrail, it becomes clear that this man embodies a wholly different and more sinister type of danger, one much harder to contain than the horrible events that unfold as Kelly is left in the sinking car.

©1993 Joyce Carol Oates (P)1993 Phoenix Books, Inc.

While Drowning...

What's summer without a 4th of July party on a beach in Martha's Vineyard, a man-eating shark, or a plunge off a bridge into a murky tide-swept pond?

This novella was first published in 1992, 23 yrs. after Chappaquiddick. Oates began taking notes on the events at Chappaquiddick in 1969 out of what she called "a horrified fascination and sympathy" for the victim, adding that the story is not Chappaquiddick, but rather she wanted the story to be "somewhat mythical, the almost archetypal experience of a young woman who trusts an older man and whose trust is violated.'

Kelly Kelleher is 26, one of the young women decorating the Washington political scene, when she attends a 4th of July party at a celebrity couple's beachfront home. It's rumored *The Senator* will be attending; a powerful 50-something, Democratic Senator, separated from his wife, and the Democratic nominee for the Presidency, from which he withdrew. The man has a reputation. Sounding familiar?
Oates stays away from the facts and evidence of that event, keeping the reader with the victim in her parallel story. The car swerves onto a side road, bumps along, then smashes through the guardrail. The plunge is more sudden than she thought it would be...the water smells like sewage and is thick and black. As it disappears into the murky water she fights to free herself, she's stuck; she feels his foot push against her head as he propels himself away from her and the sinking vehicle. Struggling to keep the sludge out of her lungs, her mind begins to madly recount the events of the day, then reel through how she got to this place...and "I can't die here..."

The writing is what you'd expect from Oates, descriptive and intelligent, but the style she chooses for this story was not my preference. The narrative is a fast flow of words, almost frenetic, reflecting the panic of the situation through the victim's thoughts alone. But that didn't detract from what was a powerful experience. If you are considering this audiobook, I'll give you this from a more qualified listener: *In 2007, The New York Times Book Review editor Dwight Garner wrote that Amanda Plummer's "cool, dark telling" of Black Water was "the best book on tape ever recorded."

Very enjoyable

Very well acted, great performance, although the script did not match my hard copy. The book must have been revised at some point, some parts were missing some were added. I used a Plume/Penguin book from 1990.

Irresistable

I couldn't stop listening to this powerfully written and powerfully read book by one of my favorite authors. I think it would appeal much more to women than men however.

Haunting and Beautifully performed by the narrator

Where does Black Water rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Black Water is one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. I was captivated beginning with the first sentence. As the story began, I knew it was one that I'd listen to without interruption.

The story itself is creative and imaginative. It's a new twist on the Chappaquiddick events but is told from the young female passenger's point of view. It is an absolutely haunting novel. I'll never forget this book!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Kelly Kelleher because you can relate to what Mary Jo Kopechne went through as she drowned that night.

What about Amanda Plummer’s performance did you like?

Amanda Plummer is far more talented than I ever knew!! Her narration was more than mere reading. It was a tour de force. I loved it.

Who was the most memorable character of Black Water and why?

Kelly Kelleher was my favorite character because through her eyes you feel every emotion that her brief life held.

Any additional comments?

I will recommend Black Water to everybody who loves a great book. But, wow, what a performance by Amanda Plummer. She made this audiobook a masterpiece!

beautiful prose + tragic story, dramatic read

Joyce Carol Oates is a master of fiction, and this novella is no exception. Story is dark, depressing, but beautifully done. Inspired by the Chappaquiddick incident