Disgrace is Coetzee's eighth novel. One of his works in particular, Foe, like Disgrace, explores male-female relationships through the introduction of a female character, Susan Barton, into Defoe's story of Robinson Crusoe. Told in the first person from Susan's point of view, the result is an intriguing interplay of man and woman both on the island and continuing after in civilization, and Coetzee uses their interactions to explore the creative process, especially the nature of writing and communication. Susan's relationship with Friday after the death of Crusoe proves to be extremely complex as they attempt to tell the story of the island.

When Susan approaches writer Daniel Foe with a request that he write their story, he is hesitant. The resulting interplay of the three characters creates an interesting situation of male-female and black-white out of which the telling of their time on the island is...