Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

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"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"is a frequently anthologized short story written by Joyce Carol Oates. Oates' story was inspired by the Tucson murders of Charles Schmid, which were profiled in Life Magazine in an article written by Don Moser on 4 March 1966.

The short story is dedicated to Bob Dylan because of Oates' further inspiration by Dylan's song, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". [1]

The title of the short story most likely came from the Old Testament, Judges 19:17. In the story, a secret code is mentioned. The code is 33 19 17. Judges is the 33rd book in the Old Testament when counting backwards. The verse states: "And the old man lifted up his eyes and saw the wayfarer in the street of the city; and the old man said to him, Where are you going? And whence do you come?"

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" was adapted into the 1985 film Smooth Talk, starring Laura Dern and Treat Williams.

The main character of Oates' "Where are you going, where have you been" short story is Connie, a beautiful 15 year old girl.

Additionally, when added up, the code in the story equals 69.