Babysitter (Oates novel)
First edition | |
| Author | Joyce Carol Oates |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 2022 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 448 |
| ISBN | 978-0802125057 |
Babysitter is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates published in 2022 by Alfred A. Knopf.
Contents
- She Asks Herself Why
- Do Not Disturb
- I Am
- When We Died
- Only This Once
- The Calendar
- First Touch
- Fever
- Empty Ballroom
- Lost
- Sin
- Before Babysitter
- Conscience
- "Give Mommy a Kiss"
- Beautiful Clothes
- You Like This
- The Adored One
Part II
- When I Died
- Infection
- Waiting
- Breathe
- [Body of Missing…]
- "Children Not Loved & Not Deserved"
- Armed
- Happiness
- Sexual Rival(s)
- "Stupid C__t"
- Rehearsal
- Asks Herself: Why?
- Never Look Back to See Where a Smile Has Gone
- Predator, Prey
- Starboy
- Ponytail
- Broken
- Death Sentence
Part III
- Disguise
- No Tears!
- "Suspect"
- "No Help"
- Abduction
- Vigil
- The Tip
- Beautiful Boy
- Never Say No
- The Intruder
- Evidence
- Alive!
Part IV
- Mistletoe 1977
- "I Am So Sorry"
- Dry Heat, September
- Kiss Mommy
- The Lover: The Call
- The Lover: The Assignation
- Armor
- Pearls
- A Door Closes. a Door Opens.
- Fairy Tale
- Home Invasion
- A Loaded Gun
- "Suicide"
- Lone Lake
- The Stone
- The Lover. the Stalker.
- "Mikhail"
- The Emissary
- Delivery Boy
- Negative
- Zink Jewelers Estate & Loan
- "For Sale"
- "Bless Me, Father"
- Do Not Disturb"
Plot
Reception
New York Times critic Oyinkan Braithwaite reports that reading Babysitter may be unsettling:
It spares nothing in its violent account of every kind of horror one could imagine happening in a single story: rape, pedophilia and child abuse, police brutality, more rape, murder.[1]
Praising Oates's "beautiful" Gothic-themed narrative for its style, Braithwaite repeats the caveat: "Babysitter is a ghost story without the ghosts, but with tension thick enough to inspire several heart attacks. Read with care."[2]
Reviewer Valerie Taylor at BookTrib Taylor finds Oates's profuse application of parenthetical remarks "jarring", perhaps leading readers "to either to stop and ingest the words or to simply ignore them."</ref> Describing the novel as "disturbing" and "stunning," the narrative presents a litany of social horrors set in late 1970s America, which "could just as easily have been ripped from today's headlines."[3] Taylor cautions: "Babysitter is not for the faint of heart."[4]
Kirkus Reviews calls Babysitter "a searing work of slow-burning domestic noir."[5]
Footnotes
- ^ Oyinkan, 2022: "...not a novel for the faint of heart."
- ^ Oyinkan, 2022: "In plot and theme, Babysitter is bleak and indulgent. Still, it is nigh impossible to fault Oates's style. She writes beautifully."
- ^ Taylor, 2022: "It's a stunning portrayal of multiple forms of brutality: child abuse and abduction, police misconduct, clergy abuse, and of course, rape."
- ^ Taylor, 2022
- ^ "Review: Babysitter". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
Sources
- Braithwaite, Oyinkan. 2022. "Joyce Carol Oates's "Babysitter" is a serial killer." New York Times, August 22, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/22/books/review/babysitter-joyce-carol-oates.html Accessed 08 March, 2025.
- Oates, Joyce Carol. 2022. Babysitter. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. ISBN 978-0-593-53517-2
- Taylor, Valerie. 2022. "The Babysitter is Out for Blood in New Joyce Carol Oates Thriller." BookTrib, August 22, 2022. https://booktrib.com/2022/08/22/the-babysitter-is-out-for-blood-in-new-joyce-carol-oates-thriller/ Accessed 8 March 2025.