 First edition | |
| Author | Joyce Carol Oates |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | The Wonderland Quartet |
| Genre | Naturalist novel |
| Published | 1967 (Vanguard Press) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 440 pp |
| Followed by | Expensive People |
A Garden of Earthly Delights is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, published by Vanguard in 1967. Her second book published, it is the first in her "Wonderland Quartet" followed by Expensive People (1968), them (1969), and Wonderland (1971). It was a finalist for the 1968 annual U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.[1]
A Garden sets out to explore social class in the United States and the inner lives of its youngsters. It follows heroine Clara Walpole, the beautiful daughter of a Kentucky-born migrant farmer. The novel explores Clara's ill-fated life and the four men who shaped it: Clara's father, a bitter, hard-working farm worker; Lowry, who whisks the teenage Clara away and tempts her with love; Revere, a wealthy married businessman who gives Clara stability; and Swan, Clara's son who carries the physiological burden of Clara’s determination to escape her haphazard existence of violence and poverty. In an attempt to rise above her mother's ambitions, Clara struggles for independence by way of her relationships with the four different men in her life.
For a recent Modern Library edition of the novel, Oates revised three quarters of the original published text.[2]
- ^ "National Book Awards – 1968". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ A Garden Of Earthly Delights, ReadingGroupGuides