Joyce Carol Oates is known mainly for her shockingly blunt, horrifyingly realistic portrayals of young girls caught in the turbulence of adolescence. Her latest novel, published in 1997, "Man Crazy" is no exception. It tells the sad, strange story of Ingrid Boone, a child who grew up with a criminal, on-the-lam father and an emotionally absent mother, leading her to seek love from anyone who showed her the least bit of kindness.
<Tab/>The expository portion of "Man Crazy" begins with five-year-old Ingrid's tale of her and her young mother Chloe fleeing their home under the cover of night after Ingrid's father commits an unnamed crime and runs from the law. While her father evades capture, Ingrid and Chloe are sent adrift in the world to fend for themselves in a shabby apartment in a new town. …
