The Maples Stories consists of eighteen classic stories from across John Updike's career, forming a luminous chronicle of the life and times of one marriage in all its rich emotional complexity. In 1956, Updike published the story "Snowing in Greenwich Village," about a young couple, Joan and Richard Maple, at the beginning of their marriage. Over the next two decades, he returned to these characters again and again, tracing their years together raising children, finding moments of intermittent happiness, and facing the heartbreak of infidelity and estrangement.
In this tenth story, "Plumbing," Richard Maple reflects on the past as his family moves into a new home.
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“The stories are full of striking passages…and Updike’s rich prose, his rhythmic, acute, fertile, and, at times, even somewhat glutting use of language.”
— Guardian (London) on The Maples Stories
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John Updike (1932–2009) was the author of more than sixty books, including collections of short stories, poems, and criticism. His novels have been honored with two Pulitzer Prize Awards, the National Book Award, and the Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Hugging the Shore, a collection of essays and reviews, received the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism.
Peter Van Norden has been acting on stage, film, and television for over thirty years. He has appeared on Broadway, off Broadway, and with most of the regional reps across the country. His film and television credits include roles in Police Academy 2 and The Accused (opposite Jodie Foster), as well as the role of Ralph Brentner in Stephen King’s eight-hour miniseries The Stand. He currently lives in Los Angeles.