The Accursed - Softcover

"Joyce Carol Oates has written what may be the world's finest postmodern Gothic novel: E.L. Doctorow's 'Ragtime' set in Dracula's castle. It's dense, challenging, problematic, horrifying, funny, prolix and full of crazy people. You should read it... Oates's hypnotic prose has never been better displayed."--Stephen King, New York Times Book Review (Cover Review)

"Carefully and densely plotted, chockablock with twists and turns and fleeting characters, her novel offers a satisfying modern rejoinder to the best of M.R. James--and perhaps even Henry James."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A fascinating novel in which historical truth and imagination collide to create an unsettling vision of America as it entered the 20th century."--Columbus Dispatch

"Oates' atmospheric prose beautifully captures the flavor of gothic fiction . . . In Oates' hands, this supernatural tale becomes a meditation on the perils of parochial thinking. It demands we think - with monsters - about our failure to face the darkest truths about ourselves and the choices we've made."--NPR

"A smart and relentlessly absorbing read."--Library Journal

"Joyce Carol Oates is at her gothic best... an astonishing fever dream of a novel."--Los Angeles Times

"Joyce Carol Oates is at the top of her game in her glorious new novel, THE ACCURSED - a long, lush account of perhaps-preternatural happenings in Princeton, N.J., a century ago."--Buffalo News

"In this new novel Oates has achieved a nearly flawless combination of postmodernism, gothic horror, "traditional" narrative, politically engaged literature, historical novel, and popular bestseller--a heady and enjoyable mix."--Harvard Review Online

"Spectacular. . . With its vast scope, its mingling of comic and tragic tones, its omnivorous gorging on American literature, and especially its complex reflection on the major themes of our history, The Accursed is the kind of outrageous masterpiece only Joyce Carol Oates could create."--Ron Charles, Washington Post

"A brilliant Gothic mystery that has the punch of historical fiction. Currents of race, class and academic intrigue swirl under the surface, but it's the demonic curse that propels the action... Oates casts a powerful spell. You'll close The Accursed and want to start it all over again."--People (4 Stars)

In 20th century Princeton, New Jersey, a powerful curse, which besets the wealthiest of families, causes the disappearance of a young bride, and when her brother sets out to find her, he crosses paths with the town's most formidable people, including Grover Cleveland and Upton Sinclair. Reprint. 100,000 first printing.