Another good read

When I was in grad school, I took a course with only three other students that required me to not only read every William Faulkner novel ever written, but actually present one to the class, in a two to three hour lecture, every fourth week.

If you've ever read any Faulkner, you'll know I'm not lying to you when I say he's a wordy guy. At the height of the course, I was reading about a thousand pages a week. It's pretty much all I did for months at a time.

I'd get up at five in the morning to read. I'd read on city buses. I had a part-time job as a receptionist at a real estate office where, in between calls, I'd read.

Surprisingly, given the intensity of the course, I still count Faulkner among my favourite authors. The Sound and the Fury is easily one of my top five desert island reads.

So, why I am I talking about Faulkner while suggesting that you pick up We are the Mulvaneys?

Because there's something about Joyce Carol Oates style that reminded me of Faulkner.

She's wordy, yes, but there's incredible precision and control in her language.

She takes you on a slow and patient journey that follows the disintegration of a seemingly ideal family following the rape of the eldest daughter. If you're patient, you'll be richly rewarded by an author who is clearly at the top of her craft.