The Collector of Hearts: New Tales of the Grotesque

The Collector of Hearts is an eerie, powerfully strange collection of classic Oates narratives. Few of the stories are blatantly horrific, although "Posthumous," with its subtle handling of a gruesome death, could give Stephen King's blood and gore a run for its money. Instead, Oates is a master of turning the everyday into the horrible, so that the stories are unsettling--grotesque because they seem familiar. The author skillfully creates believable characters, both sympathetic and despised, sometimes in as few as three or four pages. We feel for the victims of dysfunctional families, and we loathe the perpetrators of evil even as we cringe while relishing their demise.

Not every one of the stories in The Collector of Hearts is a masterpiece. Some are almost forgettable. However, enough of them are filled with Oates's signature understated dread to make them worth reading, and the occasional gems, such as "The Hand-puppet" and "The Affliction," make this collection worth owning. --Mara Friedman