Joyce Carol Oates, What I Lived For

Martin Kich (Wright State University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1994

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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This novel is set in Union City, New York, which seems a somewhat fictionalized version of Buffalo. Its main action occurs of the Memorial Day weekend of 1992. Its main character is Jerome Corcoran, known as “Corky”, who has made millions developing real estate and has entered local politics and been elected to the city council. In many respects, Corcoran’s life story is the stuff from which political personas are made. He was born in the “Irish Hill” neighborhood, an ethnic enclave that was gradually deteriorating into a slum. When he was just eleven years old, his father was murdered on Christmas Eve while hanging a wreath on the front door of their recently purchased new home. Even worse, Corcoran’s father was murdered right in front of him, and despite being an…

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2720 words

Citation: Kich, Martin. "What I Lived For". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 November 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12197, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Joyce Carol Oates, What I Lived For

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