Just bought this and am eager to get started on it.

I have much the same reaction to Oates's work that you do. I admire her tremendously, but I can't say I always enjoy her work (although I certainly do sometimes!) I've also noticed lately some rather fanciful punctuation choices, which I've found a little distracting. I'm not exactly a prescriptivist, so I'm usually able to ignore such things, so maybe it's simply an indication that I haven't been as engaged in the past few things I've read.