New Jersey

Joyce Carol Oates on a New Jersey Adventure

Published

8 months ago

March 16, 2025

Joyce Carol Oates on a New Jersey Adventure

Your story “The Frenzy” describes a weekend trip to Cape May, New Jersey, taken by a married father in his forties and the nineteen-year-old woman he calls his “teen-aged mistress.” How did the story begin for you? Did the idea come first, the characters, or the setting?

“The Frenzy” has two sources. One is the spectacle of an astonishing “feeding frenzy” of hundreds of thousands or millions of fish of all sizes, which I must have seen decades ago from a boat in the Atlantic Ocean, like the one mentioned in the story; it made a lasting impression upon me, and makes me shudder even now.

The other source is the setting: suburban New Jersey, the Garden State Parkway, Barnegat Light, and beautiful historic Cape May in the off-season. The right backdrop for a man hoping to revivify his life in some way. Also, to a lesser extent, the gritty urban New York City landscape around Varick Street—a neighborhood of expensive lofts in buildings that, from the exterior, seem minimal, grim.

“The Frenzy” seems to me a very New Jersey story, an adventure of naïve hope, cynicism, humbling, and humiliation—an ending that is surprising to the male protagonist but perhaps also to the female character.

At times, the man, Cassidy, seems like a stereotypical philandering suburban husband—narcissistic, domineering, but convinced of his own good intentions. At others, there are undertones of malevolence, potential violence. Is Cassidy banally self-aggrandizing, or is he something worse? Or do you want to keep the reader unsure?

Cassidy would appear to be a man yearning for an experience that gives meaning to his life, which seems to have atrophied, lost its significance. He has an unexplored capacity for brutality, which he is on the brink of revealing—but doesn’t, quite. Cape May is a place out of time, in a sense, ahistoric, a kind of alternate moral universe, where, if he wishes, he could punish Brianna at will—or so he thinks. At the same time, he is a middle-aged man fearful of throwing out his back. He hates seeing Brianna on her cellphone because he knows that she is texting a friend circle of people her own age, sending them pictures, messages, of a kind that she would never send him.

Brianna does initially pursue Cassidy, and although she seems willing to take or leave the affair, she is the one who calls Cassidy and asks to go on a drive. What do you think she is looking for with him? A replacement for the parents she’s fallen out with? Someone who can, literally, take her places—an entertaining diversion from friends her own age? Does she see him as someone she can control, thanks to his attraction to her?

It is not my understanding that people always behave with clear motives. Brianna is an impulsive person; she acts without thinking of consequences. She leaves Cassidy precipitously, surprising him by being so decisive. But, in fact, she is behaving instinctively, to save herself, leaving in the way she left her friend in his apartment on the Lower East Side. The same way she will leave others in the future. In a way, Brianna basks in her own being, behaving as she does simply because she can—which is possibly typical of some young women of her generation. They are not children any longer but they behave in childish ways.

The standard narrative in relationships like this is that the older man has the wealth and power and calls the shots, and the younger woman enters into the affair willingfully but innocently and is damaged in some way by it. This story follows that trajectory up to a point, and then flips it. Did you know from the start that that would happen?

Yes, the destination was always the unflattering, deflating voice at the door saying, “Housekeeping”—suggesting a perfunctory sort of cleanup of a mess made by people like Cassidy and Brianna. The romantic/erotic adventure has ended, and now a maid appears. But Cassidy, the seemingly dominant male, is naked, exposed. Whatever happens to him, he deserves.

How do you feel about the ongoing debate about characters’ “likability”? Do they need to be likable in order to keep the reader interested in—and empathizing with—them?

It would never occur to me to measure fictional characters by their “likability”—that seems very limited, trite. I never read prose fiction expecting to “like”—or “dislike”—characters but, rather, to be surprised, moved to emotion of some kind, by a story that is unusual in some way. Does one “like” or “dislike” Macbeth, Raskolnikov, Captain Ahab, among countless others? Literature is a texture of words evoking life in the most vivid ways—psychologically, physically.

I am most powerfully drawn to places, settings. I want to see, hear, smell, “feel” the atmosphere of a place. The Jersey Shore in the off-season is one such place. The misfired adventure of “The Frenzy” is exactly appropriate to the off-season at the Jersey Shore. It is neither “likable” nor “unlikable.” Like a feeding frenzy, it just is. ♦

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New Jersey

Where the polling stands in Virginia, New Jersey, NYC and California

Published

20 minutes ago

November 3, 2025

Press Room

Where the polling stands in Virginia, New Jersey, NYC and California

Polling is giving observers a clearer picture of what to expect on Election Day as voters cast their ballots.

Key elections in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City and California could hold big implications for what to expect in next year’s midterms.

Here’s what the polling tells us about Tuesday’s major races:

Virginia

Throughout Virginia’s gubernatorial campaign, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) has maintained a solid lead over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R). The latest Emerson College/The Hill survey, released Saturday, showed Spanberger leading Earle-Sears 55 percent to 44 percent. Spanberger improved her standing by 3 points in the poll, while Earle-Sears improved her standing by 2 points.

The polling average from The Hill’s partners at Decision Desk HQ has Spanberger up nearly 10 points over Earle-Sears.

However, the most closely watched race in the state this cycle is the attorney general contest. The race was always seen as one of the closer statewide races in Virginia, given Attorney General Jason Miyares’s status as an incumbent and fundraising advantage. Democratic nominee Jay Jones, however, still held a narrow lead over Miyares.

That all changed in early October when texts sent by Jones in 2022 surfaced in which he talked about inflicting violence on former state House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R). Jones apologized for the texts, but polls show the scandal has narrowed the Democrat’s chances at ousting the Republican attorney general.

The same Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey released Saturday shows Jones leading Miyares 49 percent to 47 percent, well within the poll’s 3.2 point margin of error. Meanwhile, a Roanoke College poll released last week showed Miyares with an 8-point lead over Jones.

New Jersey

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) leads her Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli, but the race is close enough that some Democrats are sweating.

The Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) polling average shows Sherrill leading Ciattarelli 50.1 percent to 45.5 percent. A Suffolk University poll released last week shows Sherrill with a 4-point lead, while an AtlasIntel poll also released last week showed Sherrill up 1 point over Ciattarelli.

The race comes a year after President Trump made notable gains in the blue-leaning state. Trump lost New Jersey to former Vice President Kamala Harris by just less than 6 points, a marked improvement from 2020 when he lost the state to former President Biden by nearly 16 points.

Ciattarelli also performed better than expected in his race against Gov. Phil Murphy (D) in 2021, losing by roughly 3 points.

New York City

Polls suggest Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is well on his way to becoming mayor of New York City. Mamdani began the mayor’s race as a relatively unknown figure but has skyrocketed in stature following his surprise win in the Democratic primary.

Strategies to stop Mamdani’s support from growing have continuously been floated throughout the campaign. The city’s incumbent Mayor Eric Adams dropped his bid for reelection and eventually backed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s independent bid. Republican Curtis Sliwa has also faced calls to drop his bid, with critics arguing that his presence in the race benefits Mamdani because he takes votes away from Cuomo.

Despite Cuomo’s high name ID and warnings about Mamdani’s far-left policy platform, Mamdani has only continued to consolidate support in the Democratic enclave. According to the DDHQ polling average, Mamdani leads the field with 44.6 percent, followed by Cuomo at 31.6 percent, and Sliwa at 18.6 percent.

However, Cuomo’s allies were somewhat heartened over the weekend when an AtlasIntel poll showed Cuomo appearing to close the gap with Mamdani. The poll showed Mamdani leading Cuomo 40.6 percent to 34 percent ahead of Election Day.

California

Proposition 50, the ballot measure backed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that would establish new congressional district maps that temporarily override the state’s independent redistricting committee, appears to be on a glide path to passing. The measure would allow Newsom and the state’s Democrats to move forward with redistricting efforts ahead of next year’s midterms in an effort to counter Republican-led efforts in Texas.

The measure has gotten some pushback, including from former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), but has proven to be widely popular in the state. An Emerson College Polling survey released last month found that 57 percent of likely voters in the state said they backed the measure while 37 percent said they did not support it. A separate CBS News/YouGov poll showed an even larger margin, with 62 percent of respondents saying they would vote yes on the measure and 38 percent saying they would vote no.

Newsom is so confident the measure will pass that last week he told supporters to stop donating to the effort.

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Sherrill, Ciattarelli make their final push for votes in the race for New Jersey governor

Published

19 hours ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

Sherrill, Ciattarelli make their final push for votes in the race for New Jersey governor

WEST NEW YORK, New Jersey (WABC) — It is down to the wire in the race to become the next governor of New Jersey.

Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill campaigned in West New York on Sunday, shoring up support with Latinos.

“We have seen a great deal of enthusiasm across the state. It’s been really exciting, including events like this,” Sherrill said.

Some of that enthusiasm emanated from a major rally Saturday night with former President Barack Obama in Newark.

“The numbers in the vote by males in early voting look very, very good. And, you know, having President Obama here last night was kind of icing on the cake,” she said.

Turnout has been overwhelming. Between in-person early voting and mail-in ballots, nearly 1.2 million New Jerseyans have already cast their vote.

“At the end of the day, it’s all decided by the end of 8:00 on Tuesday. But we really like the numbers we see with regard to the VBS vote by mail ballots and the early voting,” Jack Ciattarelli, Republican Candidate NJ Governor, said.

Ciattarelli was joined by Congressman Mike Lawler in Middletown speaking with voters on Sunday.

“People are upset over eight years of Phil Murphy’s failed policies and the very strong impression that my opponent would just be more of the same, only worse,” Ciattarelli said.

He is also criss-crossing the state in a final push for votes.

“I hope the Democrats continue to make the same mistake over the next two days. They’ve been making for the past four months, talking all about Trump and blaming everything on Trump. The people in New Jersey are smarter than that. They want solutions. And that’s exactly what we’ve been giving them every day on the trail,” he argued.

Early voting is over. Polls open at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Election Day.

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Keefe | POST-RAW 11.1.25 | New Jersey Devils

Published

2 days ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

Keefe | POST-RAW 11.1.25 | New Jersey Devils

NewJerseyDevils.com is the official web site of the New Jersey Devils, a member team of the National Hockey League (“NHL”). NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2025 New Jersey Devils and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.

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