High Crime Area: Tales of Darkness and Dread

In these eight stories, Joyce Carol Oates, unparalleled as an investigator into the intricacies of human failing, deftly tests the bonds between damaged individuals—a brother and sister, a teacher and student, two strangers on a subway—in the fearless prose for which she is justly celebrated.

In the title story, a white aspiring professor is convinced she is being followed. No need to panic—she has a handgun stowed away in her purse, just in case. But when she turns to confront her black male shadow, the situation isn’t what she expects. In “The Rescuer,” a promising graduate student detours to inner-city Trenton, New Jersey, to save her brother from a downward spiral. But she soon finds out there may be more to his world than to hers. And in “The Last Man of Letters,” the world-renowned author X embarks on a final grand tour of Europe. He has money, fame, but not a whole lot of manners. A little thing like etiquette couldn’t bring a man like X down, could it? In these biting and beautiful pieces, Oates confronts, one by one, the demons within us, demonstrating that sometimes, it’s not the human side that wins out.

Contents: “The Home at Craigmillnar” read by Ray Chase “High” read by Donna Postel “Toad-Baby” read by Luci Christian “Demon” read by Chris Patton “Lorelei” read by Tamara Marston “The Rescuer” read by Julia Whelan “The Last Man of Letters” ready by Ray Chase “High Crime Area” read by Julia Whelan