Culture

Acclaimed Author Joyce Carol Oates Has Terrified Twitter With A Photo Of Her Infected Foot

This year's horrors come in many forms.

by Jared Richards  17 August 2020
Joyce Carol Oates shares infected foot photo on Twitter, ruins Twitter

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If you don’t have Twitter, you’d know of Joyce Carol Oates as one of America’s most acclaimed authors and a five-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer with almost 60 novels under her name.

If you do, though, you’ll know Oates as one of the site’s most prolific hot-take havers — a well-ratioed Tweeter with years of controversial opinions. But nothing has quite taken hold of the site like Oates’ picture of her infected foot.

Oates, 82, has steered her way through many controversies of varying levels of importance over the years on Twitter. She’s defended Woody Allen; showed off her disgusting keyboard; accidentally cancelled Steven Spielberg for killing a triceratops; and both been Islamaphobic. and asked if we are overlooking the “celebratory and joyous” side of ISIS.

To follow her is to never know what is next.

Still, just as she writes longhand each day, she continues to log on. On Sunday, she decided to Tweet out a photo of her foot which had somehow pussed up, cracked and bruised after she stepped in something during a hike. There was also hair hanging from it (assumedly just from her cats, but God).

“So important to wear proper hiking shoes,” she warns. “never/ever walk in the woods in sandals. the instep of my left foot this morning — poison ivy? poison oak? must’ve stepped in something…”

Here is the tweet — it feels wrong to include the picture in this article. Just be warned: it’s exceptionally gross. People were disgusted, but also worried, and recommended Oates visit a doctor immediately. She is now on antibiotics, thank God.

The damage, however, is done. As one of The Best Tweets says, “Each day on twitter there is one main character. The goal is to never be it”: yesterday, Oates’ foot was the main character, and we never want to be anything resembling it.

Then again, quite a few people replied to Oates’ photo with pics of their own infected feet, so at least there was a sense of solidarity in there somewhere.

Find a few reactions below, and never go hiking in sandals.