The story of the Stevicks, an ordinary American family of the 1950s, revealing the sleeping furies that are hidden beneath the respectable surface.

A girl's need to find a substitute for her father who is never around makes her an easy prey for the charismatic leader of a Satanic biker gang and she becomes his "dog girl." She is Ingrid, daughter of a fighter pilot and a promiscuous mother from New York State. Eventually she escapes to rebuild a new life.

A teenager in 1960s Buffalo kills his mother's abusive lover and becomes the town's legend. The story is told from various points of view, each a projection of a person's fantasies. A look at how and why legends are created.

Written in a painterly style that is utterly compelling, this compact yet powerful novel is perfect for anyone wishing to step into the hypnotic fictional world of Joyce Carol Oates. "A poetic ballad of love and death and martyrdom in a turn-of-the-century small town ..."--The New York Times.

"Uma criança é abandonada pela mãe no leito lamacento do Black Snake River. Contra todas as expectativas, «a menina da lama» sobrevive e é adotada por um casal de classe média que tentará esconder para sempre essa terrível história. Mas o presente vai tornar-se surpreendentemente vulnerável aos agentes do passado. Meredith "M. R." Neukirchen será a primeira mulher a presidir a uma universidade da Ivy League. Emersa numa carreira absorvente,...