Having never read Vonnegut before, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. The title led me to expect some degree of science fiction. What I found was a collection of rich, wonderfully written stories about a wide assortment of subjects. Vonnegut is a great writer, pure and simple. Many of the stories dealt with the future and the state of society, and Vonnegut struck me as having a somewhat cynical yet witty view of the subject. I found the themes of his stories to be somewhat akin to my own fears of life as we will some day know it, in a world where the government attempts to create utopia on earth. Two of the more memorable stories found in these pages are "Harrison Bergeron" and "Welcome to the Monkey House." In the first story, we find the type of society that I fear the most, a socialist republic where all people are required to be equal; those who possess intelligence and pose the danger of actually thinking are controlled by implants which forcefully disallow any thought from entering their minds. In the latter, we find a Malthusian world of overpopulation where everyone takes pills to numb the lower halves of their bodies and people are encouraged to come to Federal Ethical Suicide Parlors and voluntarily remove themselves from the crowded world. Other stories deal with massive overpopulation troubles.

On the other hand, we find more simplistic stories in which Vonnegut conveys individuals in a deep, touching light, striking great chords of sympathy in this reader's mind. A woman who is obsessed with redecorating the houses of her neighbors yet cannot afford to buy decent furniture for her own house; a young woman who comes to a strange town, captivates everyone with her beauty, is criticized and publicly humiliated by a young man for being the kind of girl he could never win the heart of, and is richly shown to be an innocent, lonely soul; a teen who acts horribly because he has never had a real family but is saved from a life of crime by a teacher who makes the grand effort to save the boy--these are some of the many subjects dealt with by the author. There is even a heartfelt story about a young Russian and young American who are killed in space but who inspire understanding and détente between the two superpowers by bringing home the point that they were both young men with families who loved them and who had no desire for anything but peace--written during the height of the Cold War, that story really stood out to me.

All of the stories are not eminently satisfying to me, but the lion's share of them are; a couple of stories seemed to have been written for no other reason but to make the author some money, which is okay (especially since Vonnegut introduces the stories by saying he wrote them in order to finance his novel-writing endeavors). I may have been less than satisfied by a couple of stories, but even the worst of the lot was written wonderfully and obviously with much care, and I daresay that few writers could do better on their best day than Vonnegut does on his worst. Sometimes, as one ages, one fears that he will eventually have read all of the best books in the world, but then one discovers an author such as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and it is one of the best and most exciting things that can happen to that person.

~ * * * * ~
~I'd love to give this book 6 ****** Stars!
This book made such an impression on me as an adolescent, and as an adult, I still love it. The short stories are very different, they are unique in that many show a more optimistic and hopeful Kurt Vonnegut than we see in any of his other books.
These stories were written at various times for publication in different magazines. The title story "Welcome to the Monkey House" is no less thought provoking 30 years later! My favorite story "D.P" for "displaced person"- about a little black orphan in an all white post-war 'German" orphanage - was heartbreakingly sweet.
Although he disparages the story, "Long walk to Forever" shows a caring and hopeful side of the author he rarely reveals.
All the stories are absorbing, and deceptively easy to read. This book was one I'll never give away, I need to reread the stories too often!

From the wonderous humanity of EPICAC, the computer who loved a girl, to the simply yet imaginatively told story of "Thomas Edison's Shaggy Dog", to the black American soldier's relationship with a certain displaced person ("D.P.") to the title story's grim view of the future population (see also "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", the last story in the collection), Vonnegut surprises with his humor, and then delivers a knockout punch with his pathos. *SPOILER* The story about the boy who cannot tell his parents that he didn't get in the School, and "The Kid Noone Could Handle" *END* Is the "fifty-year man" the real "Deer in the Woods"? One of my favorite stories has always been "More Stately Mansions" about the woman who yearns for a more perfect abode as collected and clipped from many home decorating magazines. The realism of his stories is kind of spooky sometimes. His prose writing is amazing--a master of the quick turn of phrase, the one-sentence description that reads like a book, the presence behind the prose somehow is able to make complex, profound ideas more simple, and vice versa. I first read this volume in 1974 on airplanes and while traveling to Africa at the age of 12. Some of it escaped me then, but by now I think I get it. And I recommend it highly!

A poem is a poem is a poem, right? Wrong. At least to me poetry is something that comes from within, something that's born perfect, something that doesn't need the craftsman. I know I'll draw a lot of criticism from the school of thought that swears by crafted poetry, but no, that's not my cuppa.

John Updike has always passed this touchstone test of mine, more so in this collection. True, not all pieces in this volume are spontaneous, but thanks to his respect for poetry, he has segregated his poems from his "light verse." In his own words, "In making this collection, I wanted to distinguish my poems from my light verse. My principle of segregation has been that a poem derives from the real (the given, the substantial) world and light verse from the man-made world of information - books, newspapers, words, signs. If a set of lines brought back something to me something I actually saw or felt, it was not light verse. If it took its spark from language and stylized signifiers, it was."

The fact that Updike understands the thick line between poetry and prose in verse, doesn't make his poems and verses any less interesting. In fact, it adds to their character.

I really love the variety in this collection. He writes about science, travel, nature, and much much more. Each poem is quite different from the others. This variation makes each poem unique and very interesting.

John Updike has accomplished a great deal in his career, but his poetry cuts to the heart of his obessions/teachings/observations on life. What a wonderful collection to behold. He makes one appreciate how poetry can once again speak to the heart as well as the mind. I highly recommend this excellent collection for poetry lovers and non-poetry lovers alike.

I was given a list of books to choose from for a project in my high school sophmore honors english class and this book was on it. I skimmed it before I decided and I saw references to mythology which I am very interested in. Unfortunatly it didnt turn out to be at all what I was hopping for. I had a terrible time getting into the book, it was confussing with all the changes in narratives and the time jumps. I also was confussed about the double character thing. I wouldnt recommend this book to anyoneone who isnt VERY knowledgeable about mythology.

This is perhaps my favorite Updike novel. The pathos and love of the relationship between Mr. Caldwell and his son Peter is the best writing of a father-son relationship i have ever read. Simply Mr. Caldwell is too good for this world and one of Updike's more likeable characters. His novels of the 50's and 60's seem to have more heart and vividness than some of his later work (particularly Roger's Version and S. - both of which i found lacking). But in the Centaur Updike makes a descriptive paradise out of the most mundane aspects of life: a broken down car, a high-school pep rally, morning coffee and much much more. Such things Updike turns into gold.

Truly most of the mythological stuff went over my head (my knowledge of ancient super-heros and comic books being mediocre at best), but i thought the interplay of the old fable and the story was handled well (Updike can handle anything well).

Besides having some of the most touching and memorable scenes I have read in a long time - (the images of this book have implanted themselves so firmly upon my mind that I feel i experienced the life of this novel rather than read it) - it also plays wonderfully with time - time running out, time misplaced, the span of three average days containing the musings and yearnings of a lifetime etc.

I really cannot think of one thing this book is missing: the writing, predictably, is amazing, the characterization is on the level of the Rabbit novels, and the originality of the format and the boldness of the narrative are dazzling. What more can I say?

I thought that this was a beautifully-written novel, a delight to read. It's the story of a few days in the lives of the teacher George Caldwell and his teenage son, Peter.

Caldwell is struggling with middle-age burn-out, and Peter is at the age when his love for his father is mixed with feelings of rebellion (and embarrassment at his father's increasing eccentricities). Updike concentrates on the feelings of both George and Peter, but as the story unfolds, Peter's view of the world comes to dominate the narrative, and I felt that I was really seeing things through the eyes of a teenager and sharing his feelings.

That Updike could pull this off is a measure of how good a writer he is when at his best: in particular, his eye for detail and the everyday nuances of daily life are excellent.

I'm not that versed in Greek mythology, and the parts of the novel devoted to this are relatively short, so it shouldn't deter prospective readers. I suppose that quite how the mythological parts relate to the characters is up to each reader to decide - rather than put foward my impression, I'll refrain. Each to his/her own opinion!

Fitzgerald, Hemingway, C.S.Lewis, John Cheever. If any one of these authors was ever important to you, please pick up O'Hara. He's critical to understanding twentieth century American authors. At the very least, you can engage in the unending debate on whether he's worthy of joining this pantheon of writers. Worthy of an airport paperback rack? Smalltime trashy romance writer? Or do you think he paints a richly textured canvas of an America and its high society about to be turn the corner on the first half of the 20th century? An important Irish-Catholic writer?

My tip: read this book. If nothing else you'll learn about bituminous and anthracitic coal, the United Mine Workers, how to mix a martini, (and throw one), why fraternities were ever important, and what a flivver was. It's certainly a period piece, and O'Hara does not hold back with the language of the jazz age...which may confuse modern readers (it was a gay party, his chains dropped a link, etc.) In fact, O'Hara was an early adopter of using slang and vernacular in writing the spoken word, and you can be the judge of whether or not he gets an Irish mobster's (or a "high hat's") tone correctly.

He's really at his best with character development, because Julian English (our protaganist) is our bigoted confidante, our tiresome spouse, our wretched boss, our surly neighbor, our spoiled college-boy brat, our pretentious friend and our preening big man about town all in one. O'Hara waltzes us through Julian's demise and we root for him, for one more chance, all the way down.

At the end of every year, Brian Lamb talks to three authors on a special Booknotes on C-SPAN. Last year one of the guests was Shelby Foote & he said that he was reading some great American authors who folks had sort of forgotten. One of them was John O'Hara. Now I've seen dozens of his books at book sales, so I knew two things: one, he sold a ton of books; two, folks aren't reading them anymore. So I picked up From the Terrace, Appointment in Samarra & a couple collections of the short stories & loved them all. It was very heartening to see that he made this list (Modern Library Top 100).

Appointment tells the story of Julian English, a WASP nervously perched atop the social heap in Gibbsville, PA. At a Christmas party in 1930, he throws a drink in the face of the town's leading Catholic businessman and thus begins his downward spiral.

O'Hara etches very sharp portraits of characters from the varying strata of society & presents a vivid tale of an America & it's establishment shaken by the oncoming Depression and the rise of new Ethnic groups.

GRADE: A

'Appointment in Samarra' is a great novel. I was led to read it by an article in the Atlantic Monthly that lamented the pretentiousness of much of contemporary writing. Not only is the writing pretentious, but it doesn't say anything intelligible. 'Appointment in Sammara', by contrast, tells a story in a direct manner while still revealing to us hidden truths about the human spirit. It's not giving anything away to say that the story concerns the self-destruction of one Julian English. Julian is suave, Protestant, lives in the finest neighborhood, and hangs out with the in crowd. But Julian makes the mistake of throwing his drink into the face of a powerful, nouveau riche Irish Catholic. Suddenly, Julian's support structures don't seem so firm. Julian's descent is heart breaking because, although he is not an especially likeable person, John O'Hara still manages to make us care for him. O'Hara's book was prophetic in that it portrays the end of WASP domination in America. The book takes place in 1930 and was published in 1934 ' just six years after the Catholic Al Smith was denied the presidency by a virulent anti-Catholic backlash led, in part, by the Klan. We're told that some of the locals in Pottsville are members of the the Klan. Twenty-six years later, in 1960, an Irish Catholic would be elected president. Appointment in Samarra is a must read for those who are serious about the American novel.

The events that occurred on September 11, 2001, changed the history of the United States forever. No longer are Americans fearless of other world powers, no matter how large or small, but now Americans are to some degree living in fear. Terrorist attacks can happen again today, tomorrow, a month from now or a year from now. There is no way to plan for the unexpected, even though cautionary levels are through the roof. The outcome of that fateful day changed American attitudes. The hatred felt toward the U.S. was overwhelming. I believe that if it would have been possible, there would not be a single American man, woman or child alive to tell the frightening tale. The history of the U.S. changed that day, and luckily, there is people left to tell about it and share stories and emotions.
Following Spetember 11, 2001, there has been numerous literary works that have popped up about the issue. One of these works is by William Heyen and is called September 11, 2001 American Writers Respond. This literary work is an anthology of 127 American writers that responded to the tragedy. The anthology is a collection of fiction writings, essays, and poetry and prose. What is amazing to me is that these writers were able to respond at all. Following the events, there was numbness throughout the U.S. Mass confusion and hysteria was going on. No one knew for sure who was involved, who was killed, or what the meaning behind the event was. It was as if, for Americans, the world had stopped moving for days at a time while they watched over and over again the planes crashing and the towers falling.
For months afterwards, news headlines and magazine covers were filled with pictures and stories of people's experiences and thoughts. This is what September 11, 2001 American Writers Respond is all about-experiences and thoughts. The stories and prose included in the anthology are by various writers throughout the U.S. and vary in length, depth, and character. This may be the only downfall of the anthology. If there was some uniformity to the pieces, I believe, the anthology would be much stronger. Nonetheless, the fact that the writers were able to capture their thoughts and emotions during this chaotic and emotionally charged time is all that matters, because these thoughts and emotions are exactly what everyone in the U.S. wanted, and in some ways needed.
Americans couldn't get enough of others thoughts and were also eager to share their own. Most of the pieces in the anthology explore the meaning behind the events, such as what does this say about humanity, what does this say about everyone's sense of well-being and why is the U.S. so hated. Some explore what should be done as a counterattack, and other simplier pieces, recollect what a particular writer was doing at the time of the incident. The reaction of the people to this tragedy is similar to when Kennedy was shot or when the U.S. first landed on the moon. Everyone talks about what they were doing. Curiosity is great but it is more than simple curiosity. A uniting of the nation came to pass, and the people want to feel as though they belong, as though they all shared a common experience and grew as a result of that experience. This also is what the anthology does for the reader.
One piece that particularly grabbed my attention was by Antler, and was taken from Skyscraper Apocalypse. The lines that made me grasp the events in a different light go as follows:

Have the winds blown enough
that by now all of us have breathed
particles of the burned-up corpese?
Sooner of later all of us will inhale
invisible remains of the incinerated victims...

I had never thought of the events in this light. Living in Wisconsin, and not knowing any victims, made me disengage myself from the tragedy in some ways. My life wasn't changed in a drastic manner so I didn't think about it constantly. However, when I read these lines, and I think that at this very moment I could be breathing someone's remains, makes me look and remember the tragedy in an altered way. This is also a major part of the anthology, looking at others perspectives and making them part of the larger picture. The people that lost their lives were live human beings, and even if I didn't know them, their death does make a difference in my life.
Overall the anthology was well put together. The writers all had something intellectual to contribute and did so in a meaningful manner. It is a mixture of works that makes the reader feel the tragedy all over again yet, at the end there is hope, even though nothing has been resolved at the time the anthology was published. The anthology's greater purpose, I believe, is to console and also to share thoughts and emotions, which at a time like this, as any psychologist would say, is very crucial.

September 11, 2001 American Writers Respond is a compilation of musings written within days of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, making this book a gem for its timeliness. The contributors express in poetry, essay, letter and other forms of composition the thoughts and feelings they had regarding the horror of that day of infamy. With over 120 writers included, the impressions encompass a spectrum of opinions and feelings. It is safe to say there is something for everyone in this book. The entries range from serious realism to fantastic prose, all relating to September 11, 2001. The writing is flawless and stimulating, both for its originality and for the variety of emotion the pieces create.
Now that almost two years have passed since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it is interesting to read the book and remember the misconceptions and rumors that were reported on the news or written in magazines and newspapers right after the attacks. No one knew at that time what the long-term effects would be on the nation. Writers predicted events that have not happened. Reading their forecasts now is amusing and sometimes sad. It recalls our naivety before the loss of innocence.
Above all, this book is a montage of American thought. Readers will find a voice that echoes their own. One will take note of new friends, but carefully walk around those who reflect an opinion too far from their own. It is a timely book, but a monster in the closet. One must choose wisely when to take it out, for it will make even the most callous reader remember, reflect, and react to that awful September 11th.

We all know where we were on September 11th, 2001. Some of us were headed to work, others to school, some were with families and some were alone. We all know the thoughts that struck our minds as those airplanes struck those towers. Many of us would like to express the pain and emotion that we felt but are unable to find the words. That is why this book comes in handy.

At about 435 pages, September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond is an anthology featuring 120 writers. Loaded with first hand impressions penned only months within the attack on America, the book is a balanced mix of political response, personal reflection and artistic vision of the day that changed the world forever.

The anthology is Editor, William Heyen's effort to reflect the opinions and experiences of the world's people. It is a balanced representation of ideas, but hardly covers a fraction of the opinions and questions of all affected by the attack. And although it will never answer "why?" What it will do is let us express, empathize and identify with one another, not only as writers, not only as Americans, but as human beings.

un libro straordinario, che mostra l'immortale fascino del personaggio disneyano che dai cartoon ha invaso - come icona globale - il mondo intero. ironia, sarcasmo, un pizzico di delirio nelle opere riprodotte, che rivisitano luoghi altri della Cultura, dalla politica (Ronald Reagan) alla pittura (van Gogh) alla psicoanalisi (Sigmund Freud), in un caleidoscopio poliedrico ed irresistibile.

Would that this book were still in print. It is a marvelous collection that made a fabulous gift for anyone enamored with Mickey and his friends.

are you planing a new ediction of that book?I got one, but it is writen in spanish and it isfrom 1995 - I need an updated one - best way:in german. Please inform me, where I can get thelatest version as soon as possible. Thanxs!

Here come the Maples, John Updike's fictional representation of a typical married couple in mid-to-latter twentieth century America. The Maples fight, drink, and sex their way through life, somehow still managing to find a little happiness. This book, comprised of a number of related short stories, is highly evocative of the mood of the early sixties. The gender roles and sexual repression of earlier decades was giving way to a new kind of freedom, but there was still an awful price to be paid in anger, in jealousy, in heartbreak. Yet somehow, this book explains, life goes on; stands are taken, moves are made, and children are raised, despite all the unpleasantness. The stories are told from the husband's point of view, so it seems odd that we don't get a very clear picture of the 'other woman' who causes so much trouble. But the really big question that hangs over this melancholy little volume is: Why are these people so hung up on sex? Updike takes pains to show how much these people care for each other, but somehow they still can't seem to be satisfied with each other. No answers are offered here, but no judgments are passed, either. Essentially, we're presented with a novel of manners that documents (for future generations) a particular time and lifestyle.

As always, Updike's prose is as flawless as his characters are flawed. Confused, weak, vacillating, frequently suffering from some self-inflicted or psychosomatic ailment, Richard is the everyman we don't want to glorify even though we see much of ourselves in him. His more conservative wife Joan feels herself trapped in a pit of self-righteous indignation. Together they feed off each other's neuroses until the inevitable occurs. This is not a happy book, but it doesn't have a powerfully tragic feel either. It's almost as though Updike had written these stories about his own failed relationships, from which he'd since moved on, but which still bore a kind of nostalgic, wistful glow. A lovely book, although not a spectacular one, aimed at those who enjoy analyzing relationships, rather than those who expect big things to actually happen.

And so there I was, having just finished the latest of the Rabbit series, sad to be leaving a group of people with whom I had spent many entertaining hours, when I came upon this book in the store. Terrific, I thought, another series in which to immerse myself, even if for much less time. I was not disappointed. This is excellent.

In addition to the storytelling, it is interesting in that it gives one a picture of an artist in development. As with the Rabbit series, the writing improves with each story, as the writer matures over a period of years. I highly recommend this collection.

Also of interest: this contains "Gesturing," selected by Updike himself for inclusion in "The Best American Short Stories of the Century."

The Maples story "Snowing in Greenwich Village" is the most erotic short story I've ever read. Now that I've told you that, you'll read it and be disappointed. But what makes me feel this way is what Updike deliberately doesn't say about this one evening in the life of Richard and Joan Maple and their guest, Rebecca Cune. Doesn't say, that is, until the final sentence. And in that sentence, a single omitted comma where anyone else might have inserted one had the effect of nearly taking my breath away. Once you're finished reading, go back and read the first sentence again to see how well it all ties together.

I don't mean to ignore the other stories in this collection. They're all good, and I'll take the Maples as a series over Rabbit's sequels anytime.

Very good writing and style, intriguing story. However, I guess I just didn't expect to feel somewhat sickened and a bit depressed by the story. If you want to be AFFECTED, than this book is for you. It'll grab hold of you and won't let go. It just wasn't what I was expecting. If I want to feel disgust at the actions of human beings, I'll go ahead and buy a book about Ted Bundy.

Updike at his effortless best in this profound yet brilliantly flowing novel that explores the alkward relationship between religion and science...

The story is narrated by Roger, a morally dubious yet entertaining and witty doctor of divinity at an Eastern university. Roger is approached by a gangling, spotty computer scientist (who is also a born-again Christian) seeking a grant to "scientifically" prove the existance of god!

Things get complicated when the student begins having an affair with Esther, Roger's wife, while he himself begins an affair with a distant relative who lives across town in a housing project. Within this simple yet touching quadrangle of relationships come excepts from Roger's lectures on heretics, and comments on modern cosmology...

Add to this Updike's effortlessly telling descriptions, from the feel of cold streets to the elaborate rituals of academic board meetings and you have a very fine novel indeed.

One slight critisism - the computer technology so lovingly described is virtually obsolete already. This makes Roger's Version an unusally dated Updike work.

I thought that this was a very enjoyable novel - indeed, shades of "Rabbit Redux". The plot centres on Roger Lambert, a Professor of Divinity, his wife Esther, his half-niece Verna, and Dale, who is convinced that he can prove the existence of God by scientific analysis.

The book is really a paean to uncertainty. Is religious faith or faith in science a sure way of explaining the meaning of life? Are human relationships as certain as we should think or wish them to be?

Updike devotes much space to a fascinating analysis of the struggle between the scientific and traditional Christian explanations of the Creation. The question arises of whether the theory of evolution has in fact become a new religion, demanding faith rather than reason, and complete with its own zealots and heretics.

Running parallel to that is Roger Lambert's own views of the lives of the other characters in the novel. And here the reader is not sure how much is real and how much is Roger's fevered imagination. Is Esther really having an affair with Dale or is it just "Roger's version" of what might have been happening?

I felt that Updike was at his challenging best in this novel - exploring many interesting themes in an entertaining way, for example the uncomfortable interaction between Roger's middle-class world and the underworld occupied by Verna is particularly disturbing, and exposes latent tensions in society.

G Rodgers

While reading "Rabbit at Rest" I repeatedly tried to imagine how this book would read had I not read its predecessors beforehand. Frankly, I don't think anyone can do this novel justice without reading the previous three novels first. Having done so, practically every sentence resonates with meaning as it recalls something from the first three books in the series. Without "Rabbit, Run", "Rabbit Redux" and "Rabbit is Rich" in your consciousness, "Rabbit at Rest" is little more than the story of a fat man dying. It's not the best of the four but it is the richest and fullest. This is not a book to pull off the shelf and dive into unprepared. Do yourself a favor, take a few weeks to devour the series one after another. By the time you get to this one, you'll want to search Updike out to convince him that Janice, Nelson and Pru are enough to sustain one more novel.

With the exception of Updike's golf stories, the "Rabbit" series, and his short stories, I have found his other novels a bit esoteric, abstract, and oblique. In fact, I remember starting 2-3 of these books, but I never finished any of them. But the Harry Angstrom series is a direct wallop to the collective jaw of the American reader

With the fourth installment of the "Rabbit" series Updike proves that he is among the greatest American writers (along with Tom Wolfe, for example) producing fiction that oozes with sarcasm.

In "Rabbit At Rest" Updike uses the sometimes sad life of cad Harry Angstrom as a metaphor for the aimless, immature, and irresponsible segment of Americans that refuses to grow up.

Most of us would probably hate to admit it, but there is a little bit of Rabbit Angstrom in all of us.

In this book, the Angstroms are semi-retired and living in Florida. Rabbit has a heart condition and he's not doing anything to improve his health. His son Nelson has grown into a wreck of an adult, to which Harry and his wife deserve the lion share of the blame. The parents are so old and respectable now, you forget what they put their son through, until he reminds them. You really want to root for Harry to overcome all of the obstacles he faces, like you root for charming outlaws to outrun the posse. You sense that Zeus and the Gods are sitting on Mt. Olympus using Harry Angstrom as their plaything. Despite the fact that Updike is given literature status (this book won the Pulitzer), it's very easy to get into. This isn't long and arduous James Joyce prose, but an easy to follow modern day story that will make you think. The series is either a scathing indictment of latter 20th Century middle-class America that invents their own agony or it's just Updike's view of how normal people live. Whichever, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys serious fiction.

No question about it: Updike knows how to do middle-aged, middle-American angst as well or better than any other writer. His Rabbit Angstrom grieves for his lost youth and tries to hold on to it while he settles into middle age as into a hot bath. Rabbit is so self-centered, so unable to act appropriately despite his best intentions, so obsessed with sex, so crass that we have no trouble distancing ourselves from him, but in our heart of hearts we know we are not much different -- and that's Updike's genius. His characters are at the same time archetypal and familiar. If you have entered middle age, you'll shudder in recognition; if you haven't yet, here's a taste of Things To Come. (And if you like this novel, try Joseph Heller's Something Happened for a different, similarly brilliant, take on this phase of life.)

In this third installment of the Rabbit series, circa 1979/1980, we find Harry ("Rabbit") Angstom confronted by inflation, gas shortages, the Carter Administration's crisis of confidence, and most importantly by his son, Nelson. Nelson, who is now in his 20's, desparately wants to work as a salesman in Rabbit's Toyota dealership, even though that would mean displacing the company's top salesman. Harry feels that Nelson lacks the necessary maturity and competence for the position and wants him to return to college in Ohio. To complicate matters, the dealership is now owned by Janice and by Rabbit's mother-in-law, who inherited the firm from Rabbit's late father-in-law. The women are on Nelson's side and, of course, gang up on Rabbit.

These are only a very few of the many complications in this great novel. Updike further develops the Harry/Nelson father and son relationship that was begun in _Rabbit Redux_. Updike has an uncanny ability to write realistic dialogue. The reader is able to gets into the heart and head of Nelson, whose anguish is palpable. It is the anguish of a young man who desperately wants to break away from his family and the past, and to attain personal responsibility, while seriously questioning his readiness for independence. Nelson, thus, must not only struggle with his feelings about a very pregnant girlfriend who he feels it his responsibilty to marry and to support, but also with some very painful memories for which he severely blames his father. Mutual resentments felt by both the son AND the father are revealed. Both admit a fear that Nelson may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes made years earlier by Rabbit.

The novel also realistically presents the various sexual insecurities of the average middle-aged male. Who else best represents the aging, average American male, but Harry Angstrom? Happily, Rabbit discovers much that is positive about himself in an interesting and sensitively portrayed (and unexpected) encounter with a friend's wife.

I highly recommend _Rabbit Is Rich_ to everyone who truly appreciates excellent writing and rich characterizations.

As good as the first in the "Rabbit" series. "Rabbit Is Rich" is Updike at the peak of his powers, describing in rich, vivid, compassionate detail the feelings, observations, memories, and dreams of recognizable people in mainstream American situations.

As in "Rabbit, Run," the sex scenes (and the sexual energy in general) are poignant and unforgettable.

Through these characters, Updike offers us a portrait of life's restlessness and the pitfalls of growing older. Like "Rabbit, Run" (and unlike "Rabbit Redux") this novel can be read as a standalone and be rewarding.