Watching the Parents?

A brace of short stories by two of the most skilled American short story writers of the 20th century cast the family in an eerie and distressing light. For the families in these two stories are not the comforting supportive group gathered around the homely hearth giving succor to each other in bad times and sharing the joy of good times. These are families in which battle lines have been drawn and in which there is the potential for terrible harm to be done. These are families whose deadliness is most likely to be turned on each other.

In Joyce Carol Oates's story "Where are you going, Where have you been?," one of the daughters of a family is recognized by both herself and others as The Beauty. Connie -- not in any way a constant girl -- is 15 and is the beauty that her mother...
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