December 2011 Issue [Fiction] The good Samaritan Download PDF Adjust Share by Joyce Carol Oates, Subscribe or log in to continue reading. More from Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates In “The Return,” Joyce Carol Oates’s story for the latest issue of Harper’s Magazine, a woman visits an old friend whose husband has recently died, only to discover that the… The Return My friend was a widow, not really old but already a widow twice. You think of Oscar Wilde’s wisecrack. To lose one husband may be regarded as a misfortune, to… Detour Too early for spring, you couldn’t trust such blinding-white sunshine in mid-March. And the smell of damp earth thawing, reviving—too soon. Abigail was feeling light-headed. Unreal. A seismic sensation, as… Adjust Share