What I Lived For

Written by Joyce Carol Oates

Narrated by Charlie Thurston

The stunning, classic portrait of a powerful man's downward spiral to moral ruin

Jerome ""Corky"" Corcorn. A money-juggling wheeler dealer, rising politico, popular man's man, and successful womanizer. It is a Memorial Day weekend, and we are about to live with him, breathe with him, and sweat with him in a nonstop marathon of mounting desperation as he tries to keep his financial empire from unraveling, his love life from shredding, and his rebellious daughter from destroying both herself and him. Seldom in fiction has a man been brought so vividly to life in all his strength and weakness, hunger and ambition, carnality and corruption. Rarely has the complex web of American society been revealed so rivetingly. And never has one of today's supreme writers, Joyce Carol Oates, written a bolder and better novel than this mesmerizing masterpiece.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jul 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062917898

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is a novelist, critic, playwright, poet and author of short stories and one of America’s most respected literary figures. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University and a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction.

Reviews for What I Lived For

[hubblegal-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A day in the life of Jerome “Corky” Corcoran is quite a day indeed. It’s Memorial Day, 1992. Marilee Plummer, a black woman who had recently accused a black city council member of raping her, has apparently committed suicide. Corky doesn’t make any political friends when he calls for a full investigation. Nothing’s going right for Corky. He feels betrayed by his lover, his financial empire is in trouble and his troubled step-daughter is causing him grief. Corky has never gotten over his father’s cold-blooded murder and he may soon discover some answers.Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite authors but I can’t say that this is one of my favorite novels of hers. It’s a very uncomfortable book to read and Corky is a very hard character to like. He’s a womanizer, he’s patronizing, he’s conceited although he also hates himself, he’s racist and he has a horribly foul mouth. I felt like I was being assaulted by the hard language used throughout this story. On Corky’s behalf, he’s a self-made millionaire and has come a long way from his difficult start. This book is over 600 pages (it’s a reprint, having first been published in 1994) and there were times I wasn’t sure I could spend any more time with this guy. I’ve always known that Ms. Oates is a brave author and I think this is probably one of her bravest efforts. But I’m not at all sure that Corky warranted such attention. I wish I could have come to care about Corky. The first chapter of this book is a heartrending one but it wasn’t enough for me to justify what Corky becomes as an adult. This must be the first Joyce Carol Oates book that I didn’t love. Sorry, Ms. Oates. I do appreciate the opportunity to read this work of a well-loved author.This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.

[delascolinasnegras · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How does Oates do it? For 600+ pages, she not only crawls into the male psyche, but into an alcoholic male's mind and body, and produces a credible/incredible novel. I admire her workmanship tremendously. With all that said, I despised the crappy ending.