"A triumph." NEWSDAY The assumptions and obsessions that control our daily lives are explored in tantalizing detail by master novelist John Updike in this wise, witty, and sexy story. Harry Angstrom--known to all as Rabbit, one of America's most famous literary characters--finds his dreary life shattered by the infidelity of his wife, Janice. How he resolves or further complicates his problems makes for a novel of the first order.
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"What makes Rabbit one of the most compelling characters in American literature? By all objective accounts he is scum of the earth, a man who ought to be jailed for spousal abuse and child neglect, not to mention his serial adultery, drug abuse, racial epithets and harboring of a fugitive. Yet Rabbit remains a sympathetic figure, because through him Updike creates a mirror; Rabbit's considerable flaws do not sink inward, as part of his character, but bounce outward back at the society he chafes against throughout the novel, specifically the hedonism and strife of the civil rights era in which it is set. In the first book, he sought freedom from the drudgery of domesticity. In this second book, we learn that he has acceded to his suburban fate, and the novel concerns the tragic consequences of his misguided (to say the least!) attempts to reinvigorate his life through one hurtful, reckless act after another. Why don't we hate Rabbit? Because by the end of this masterful work we realize that he hates himself more than we ever could."
— Stewart (4 out of 5 stars)
" I decided to read all of the Rabbit books after hearing a podcast in which Richard Ford's trilogy was compared to Updike's series. While I would say that I prefer Ford, I must admit that I liked them. Given my rather negative impression of most of Updike's essays, I was pleasantly surprised. "
— Keith, 2/15/2014" I am somehow determined to make it all the way through this series, though Updike had better improve his game by the next one. At this step, our ambitious Great White Male Novelist takes on race relations in America, circa 1969, with results that would be funny if they weren't so pigheaded and, well, racist. It's all especially galling because it's evident that he thinks himself quite the adept, progressive social chronicler. Still, the man can write, and I'm curious what the Reagan years will have in store for our small-minded American hero. "
— Toni, 2/1/2014" rabbit is a scumbag and updike makes middle-class ruts come alive. "
— Kristen, 1/28/2014" this is a really dirty book. I can only read 5 pages at a time, and that's only if i'm not eating dinner. Rabbit Redux and eating do not go well together. maybe try reading it in bed? This is a problem because i am now slightly obsessed with rabbit angstrom and finding it hard to find appropriate times to read such a dirty book. this might be because of my puritan mindset, but whatever. "
— Sarah, 1/12/2014" This novel reads more like a collection of essays about hippies and the Black movement of the 70's in dialogue format. It makes no sense that Rabbit would be hanging out with the young naive idealistic white girl and her druggie civil rights spouting black male friend. None of the book makes any sense as a story. However, it is Updike doing his usual thing of combining together pivotal or extreme concepts or characterizations of a decade or era to make a statement about the times. "
— Cher, 12/29/2013" So now I'm eyeing up the next one. Have a feeling that 10 years on Harry won't have a great relationship with his son Nelson (by far the most sympathetic character in this instalment). "
— Maureen, 12/16/2013" Updike's signature poetic prose endures, but this chapter in the Rabbit series feels more pointedly uneventful than its predecessor. "
— Evan, 12/14/2013" It is a brilliant book, but it is also flawed and off-putting. It's gonna take me awhile to figure out how I feel about it. "
— Andrew, 12/9/2013" good style - again, a little depressing but good insight to what happens when people don't know how to talk to one another. "
— Clair, 11/20/2013" 4.5 is the real rating--great, Rabbit, Run is better. "
— Caitlin, 11/13/2013" I read the first Rabbit book several years ago, and will probably wait a few years before reading the next one. It's heavy, but it's written so beautifully. Interesting to note that Updike waited 11 years before publishing the second book. "
— Craig, 10/9/2013John 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.
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.