A review by queenpluto
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

5.0

american epic, american behemoth. an article once knighted this as the modern moby dick and they were on the right track. blonde was my companion for nearly seven months. there were times while reading that I wondered if oates was baker reincarnate, and then I considered the idea (since oates was born before baker's death) that oates traveled to the underworld just so she could speak to baker there. I won't stop and *consider the ethics* of recreating baker for a single moment because people write from lee harvey oswald's point of view all the fucking time. plus the fact that male manly men were worming themselves into baker's brain and weaving their stories about her unchecked before and after her death to specifically dominate and overpower her - so oates' exuberantly complex portrayal might be the closest to the story baker would have approved of being released. because it's fantastically meaningful and purely poetical and rich and full and a long, arduous love letter to the everyday woman that was elevated to white whale godhood. "the american girl healthy and clean as a bandaid" who could have wanted to be respected as an artist and a genius above all else. but "where does dreaming end and madness begin?" I hope oates and baker had a lovely time together. I hope they ordered room service and talked pensées and swam in pools of lava. you'll get it if you get it. and if you don't get it, then try harder. she's worth that much.