Extenuating Circumstances: Stories of Crime and Suspense is a collection of previously collected and uncollected short fiction by Joyce Carol Oates published in 2022 by The Mysterious Press.Cytowic, 2022: "This collection of 24 stories spans the first 30 years of Joyce Carol Oates's prolific career,,,Long out of print, these tales have not until now appeared in any form this past century.
"By the River" was anthologized in Best American Short Stories, 1969.
"Yarrow" was among the 1988 prize stories for the O. Henry Awards, as was "Why Don't You Come Live With Me, It's Time" in 1992.
"The Undesirable Table" won the Pushcart Prize XX, Best of the Small Presses (1996).
Stories Selected periodical or book of original publication are indicated.Oates, 2022: Acknowledgments
"The Death of Mrs. Sheer" (MSS, 1964) "In the Warehouse" (The Transatlantic Review, Summer 1967) "By the River" (December, December 1968) "Queen of the Night" (John Lord Press 1979) "The Revenge of the Foot, 1970" (Salmagundi, No. 108, Fall 1985) "The Doll" (Epoch, 1980) "Little Wife" (Kenyon Review, Spring 1986) "Yarrow" (TriQuarterly, No. 78, Spring 1990) "Haunted" "Death Valley" (Esquire, July 1, 1988) "Craps" (Boulevard ) "Family" (Omni, November 1993) "Ladies and Gentlemen:" (Harper's Magazine, December 1990) "Why Don't You Come Live With Me, It's Time" in Tikkun) "The Buck" (Story) "The Model" (Ellery Queen) "Extenuating Circumstances" (Sisters in Crime 5, Berkley Books 1992) "The Girl Who Was to Die" (The Gettysburg Review, 1993) "Poor Bibi" Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque "Poor Thing" in Tikkun) "The Undesirable Table" (Raritan, 1994) "The Hand-Puppet" (Tales of the Impossible, Harper Prism, 1995) "Valentine" (Michigan Quarterly Review, Vol. 36, No. 1 1996) "The Collector of Hearts" (Seventeen, 1998) "The Sons of Angus MacElster" (Conjunctions, No. 30 1998)
Reception Describing the collection as "a real treat," reviewer Ray Palen at Bookreporter.com writes:
New York Review of Books critic Richard Cytowic, characterizing the Oates's tales as "unsettling" and "disquieting" writes:
Footnotes
Sources Cytowic, Richard. 2022. "Extenuating Circumstances." New York Review of Books. https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/extenuating-circumstances Accessed 19 March 2025. Oates, Joyce Carol. 2012. Extenuating Circumstances. The Mysterious Press, New York. Palen, Ray. 2022. "Extenuating Circumstances: Stories of Crime and Suspense." Bookreporter.com, July 22, 2022. https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/extenuating-circumstances-stories-of-crime-and-suspense Accessed 21 March 2025.