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Nov 05, 2013lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
For the younger reader (let's say under 45), John Updike can be intimidating (or irritating) due to the sheer volume of his output, which includes essays, short stories, criticism and 22 novels. He's the literary equivalent of Woody Allen in that he seems to think that the producing a huge body of work his guarantee his inclusion in the canon. The Rabbit tetralogy is maybe his most famous work and this is the third in the series. The titular character is a dull WASP who eats, drinks, screws (there is a lot of sex) and worries about his car dealership, investments, mortgages and the price of gas. It's well-written, but good luck feeling anything towards the characters. Typical sentence: "But things look up in the afternoon, after a couple of pina coladas and a crabmeat-salad sandwich." I feel he should have either treated them with more sympathy or more humor. It is a pretty dirty book though (pgs. 218, 305, 414). Seriously some of this stuff would make Caligula blush. Followed by "Rabbit at Rest."