Episode 214: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been (by Joyce Carol Oates)

This week on The Easy Chair, I read the first half of Joyce Carol Oates's brilliant, twisted short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Connie is a fifteen-year-old girl from a small town, newly aware of her beauty, newly boy-crazy, awakening to life and the pleasures it offers the young and, even more abundantly, the beautiful. It’s summer, and Connie is a regular at all the local hangouts...along with the mysterious Arnold Friend. Her parents and sister leave one Sunday afternoon for a family barbecue and Connie decides she will skip it. A familiar car rolls up the driveway. It would seem that Arnold Friend has had his eye on Connie. This week’s sponsor: Ritual, the obsessively-researched vitamin for women. There are key nutrients that even the healthiest eaters don’t get enough of. Enter Ritual! I am a HUGE Ritual fan, and take my two capsules every day without fail. Start your ritual today by heading on over to www.ritual.com/easychair for 10% off during your first three months. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.