John Updike's first collection of new short fiction since the year 2000, My Father's Tears finds the author in a valedictory mood as he mingles narratives of his native Pennsylvania with stories of New England suburbia and of foreign travel. Morocco (Disc 1, Track 1) Personal Archaeology (Disc 1, Track 31) Free (Disc 1, Track 55) The Walk with Elizanne (Disc 1, Track 80) The Guardians (Disc 2, Track 28) The Laughter of the Gods (Disc 2, Track 52) Varieties of Religious Experience (Disc 2, Track 90 Spanish Prelude to a Second Marriage (Disc 3, Track 72) Delicate Wives (Disc 4, Track 9) The Accelerating Expansion of the Universe (Disc 4, Track 32) German Lessons (Disc 4, Track 72) The Road Home (Disc 5, Track 15) My Father's Tears (Disc 5, Track 67) Kinderszenen (Disc 6, Track 19) The Apparition (Disc 6, Track 62) Blue Light (Disc 6, Track 96) Outage (Disc 7, Track 48) The Full Glass (Disc 8, Track 19) In sum, American experience from the Depression to the aftermath of 9/11 finds reflection in these glittering pieces of observation, remembrance, and imagination.
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"I love Updike, so it was sad reading his last book of short stories. These seem so personal that they must be at least half autobiographical. Many take places in Pennsylvania, where he was born, and featured characters in the last part of their lives. Updike stories always show off his great vocabulary, concise and vivid descriptions, and lusty characters. He was interested in sex and illicit relationships all of his life and these stories are no exception. I think his main point was that people reveal deep emotional secrets and a picture of authentic selves when they step out of normal life and enter an affair. No doubt that Updike, like most guys, thought about sex all the time but what made him different was his masterful ability to write about it. In his early books Updike seemed to treat sex as an erotic amusement park but in these last stories sex seems to be more plain, natural, and an important part of being human. In this collection is my favorite of all of Updike's stories, which is A Walk with Elizanne, the best high school reunion story ever written."
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Alan (4 out of 5 stars)