Raymond Carver, like Oates, frequently wrote about his working-class upbringing. His collection of stories Cathedral (1983) was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize.

Oates's novel them (1969) concerns the race riots in Detroit in the late 1960s, when Oates lived in the city. The novel received the National Book Award in 1970.

In 1987, Oates published the critically acclaimed nonfiction study On Boxing, which led to her television appearance as a commentator for a boxing match.

Oates often discusses her own working-class background and its influence on her fiction. For a clearer understanding of the work world in America, read Studs Terkel's Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do (1974). Terkel presents the true-life stories of more than one hundred Chicago working people, from the prostitute...