Bastan, Katherine, Joyce Carol Oates's Short Stories: Between Tradition and Innovation, Peter Lang, 1983.

Bastan provides an overview of some of Oates's short fiction, focusing on her style and the relation of her stories to those of other major authors.

Johnson, Greg, Invisible Writer: A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates, Dutton, 1998.

Johnson has written two other critical studies of Oates's work. He was given access to Oates's letters and archival materials for his biography, the only one on Oates.

Matusow, Allen J., The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s, HarperCollins, 1984.

Matusow describes the political climate of America during the 1960s, focusing on the major voices of liberal social and economic policies.

Wagner, Linda W., ed., Critical Essays on Joyce Carol Oates, G. K. Hall, 1979.

Wagner collects some of the more important essays written on Oates up until 1978.