Joyce Carol Oates honored at retirement gala

Elaine Showalter, a Washington area feminist scholar who occasionally reviews for Book World, sends in this item about her friend and former colleague: Joyce Carol Oates was celebrated Nov. 7 as she retires from the Princeton University Creative Writing Program after 36 years. It was a gala day of tributes from her former students, friends and colleagues. Gathered for a banquet at the university's Prospect House, the crowd -- including Jonathan Ames, Louis Bayard, Christopher Beha, Pinckney Bene...