Finally returned to print in a beautiful new trade paperback edition, American Appetites is classic Joyce Carol Oates-a suspenseful thriller in which the happy facade of an affluent suburban couple crumbles under the weight of tragedy and scandal. For twenty-six years, Ian McCullough, a demographics researcher at a social science think tank, has been happily married to Glynnis, a successful cookbook writer and a brilliant hostess. When a drunken argument about a suspected infidelity turns physical, Ian accidentally pushes Glynnis through a plate glass window-or did she fall? Now, Glynnis is dead, Ian is charged with murder, and their American dream is shattered. And soon, in a courtroom where guilt and responsibility become two very separate issues, Ian will stand trial, fighting for his life. A sophisticated, witty, and chilling novel from the incomparable Joyce Carol Oates, American Appetites explores our insatiable hunger for power, love, and success, and how comfortable, privileged lives-and the course of fate-can be dramatically transformed in an instant.