Oates' Tattooed Girl

We were a group of fifteen last Weds. discussing The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates and I was the only member who thought that the author was over-rated and the book not worth the time.
The Majority Opinion: Oates is a great writer of wonderful prose. She allows the reader to see the seamy, evil and violent side of life and understand the characters who inhabit that life.
Minority Opinion (very minority): Oates glories in the most foul and her characters do not make sense or can we make sense of them.
The Morning Book Club will discuss this book next month...will I be the lonely voice again?