Based largely on the infamous Tawana Brawley hoax of the late-1980s, Joyce Carol Oates’ latest novel, The Sacrifice is a savage satire on race relations and the culture of sensationalism...The Sacrifice ranks among Joyce Carol Oates’s best novels.
Joyce Carol Oates […] is simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going, as far as I’m concerned.
The tireless Joyce Carol Oates publishes The Sacrifice , a tense novel based on the notorious Tawana Brawley rape case in 1987.
If you enjoy historical fiction, there’s a wide range of it coming up. In January, the tireless Joyce Carol Oates publishes The Sacrifice , a tense novel based on the notorious Tawana Brawley rape case in 1987.
In this provocative novel, Oates barges her way into territory where not many white writers have dared to tread - and produced a raw and earnest mix of fiery drama and the bone-cold truths of race as we live it today.
NPR / All Things Considered
Oates fully intends to make readers squirm. But for all its headline brashness, visceral magnification, and societal melodrama, The Sacrifice is laced with striking psychological subtleties, painful ironies, and flashes of tenderness and wit. A sure-fire catalyst for meaningful discussion.
Booklist (starred review)
Joyce Carol Oates […] is simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going, as far as I’m concerned. — Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl
“Oates fully intends to make readers squirm. But for all its headline brashness, visceral magnification, and societal melodrama, The Sacrifice is laced with striking psychological subtleties, painful ironies, and flashes of tenderness and wit. A sure-fire catalyst for meaningful discussion. — Booklist (starred review)
“A fictional account of the infamous Tawana Brawley case… [Oates] uses fiction as an opportunity to interrogate the circumstances that made Brawley’s story a sensation and gave it meaning.” — Kirkus Reviews
“[A] tale of race, community, and pride… complex and multifaceted.” — Publishers Weekly
“In this provocative novel, Oates barges her way into territory where not many white writers have dared to tread - and produced a raw and earnest mix of fiery drama and the bone-cold truths of race as we live it today.” — NPR / All Things Considered
“If you enjoy historical fiction, there’s a wide range of it coming up. In January, the tireless Joyce Carol Oates publishes The Sacrifice , a tense novel based on the notorious Tawana Brawley rape case in 1987.” — Tampa Bay Times
“Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates recreates the notorious Tawana Brawley case - with an Al Sharpton-like character fanning the flames of fraud - in her explosive new novel The Sacrifice.” — New York Post
“The tireless Joyce Carol Oates publishes The Sacrifice , a tense novel based on the notorious Tawana Brawley rape case in 1987.” — Lexington Herald Leader
“Based largely on the infamous Tawana Brawley hoax of the late-1980s, Joyce Carol Oates’ latest novel, The Sacrifice is a savage satire on race relations and the culture of sensationalism...The Sacrifice ranks among Joyce Carol Oates’s best novels.” — New York Post
“Without a doubt this book is timely...If there was ever a moment that called for insight into the scourge of racist policing, this is it....Oates has a sophisticated grasp of racial complexities…” — Boston Globe
“Oates doesn’t lack for ambition. Her narrative builds carefully and patiently, revealing how this kind of morality play can occur. She covers a great deal of sociological ground...issues both inside the black community and between the black and white populations of Pascayne.” — Roxane Gay, New York Times Book Review
“During her long and distinguished career, Joyce Carol Oates never has shied away from the controversy that can come with using celebrities and tabloid news stories as the inspiration for her fiction… Oates’s latest novel, The Sacrifice , seems likely to stir up another flap.” — Washington Post
“What is memorable about this book is not its echoes of the Brawley story, but rather what Oates adds, creating new and distinct perspectives… Oates poignantly transports this novel to the present, and we are reminded of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
“Oates’ representation of the effects of such a scandal on our modern media-frenzied national imagination is all the more grotesque because it is believable… The Sacrifice brings into disturbing clarity the human frustrations of the post-civil rights movement era...” — Bookreporter.com
“Oates [poses] difficult questions: If someone has not told the truth about a racist incident, does that mean that there was no racism at all? In bringing up issues of race, if we aren’t squeaky-clean are our claims that much easier to dismiss?” — Essence, Required Reading March 2015
“[A] provocative new novel...For more than half a century, [Oates] has been going where others fear to tread...The Sacrifice is...so plugged into the national ethos of today that we want to look away in shame.” — Buffalo News
Without a doubt this book is timely...If there was ever a moment that called for insight into the scourge of racist policing, this is it....Oates has a sophisticated grasp of racial complexities…
Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates recreates the notorious Tawana Brawley case - with an Al Sharpton-like character fanning the flames of fraud - in her explosive new novel The Sacrifice.
[A] provocative new novel...For more than half a century, [Oates] has been going where others fear to tread...The Sacrifice is...so plugged into the national ethos of today that we want to look away in shame.
Oates’ representation of the effects of such a scandal on our modern media-frenzied national imagination is all the more grotesque because it is believable… The Sacrifice brings into disturbing clarity the human frustrations of the post-civil rights movement era...
During her long and distinguished career, Joyce Carol Oates never has shied away from the controversy that can come with using celebrities and tabloid news stories as the inspiration for her fiction… Oates’s latest novel, The Sacrifice , seems likely to stir up another flap.
What is memorable about this book is not its echoes of the Brawley story, but rather what Oates adds, creating new and distinct perspectives… Oates poignantly transports this novel to the present, and we are reminded of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice.
Oates doesn’t lack for ambition. Her narrative builds carefully and patiently, revealing how this kind of morality play can occur. She covers a great deal of sociological ground...issues both inside the black community and between the black and white populations of Pascayne.
During her long and distinguished career, Joyce Carol Oates never has shied away from the controversy that can come with using celebrities and tabloid news stories as the inspiration for her fiction… Oates’s latest novel, The Sacrifice , seems likely to stir up another flap.
If there could be a better production of this audiobook, I don’t see how. Sybilla Frye, a 15-year-old African-American girl, is found savagely beaten and violated by, she says, white cops. But shifting accounts rendered by a quartet of actors plant doubts about Sybilla’s story. All four performances are outstanding, especially the wit and sympathy the amazing Bahni Turpin shows her often unreliable characters. The laconic menace Adam Lazarre-White gives Sybilla’s violent stepfather is also stunningly effective. Given that once the name Tawana Brawley occurs to you, the bones of this story are predictable, Oates could have advanced her morally complex agenda more crisply. But these actors do a great deal to make the pace compelling and the coming train wreck riveting. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
