Showing results by author "John Updike" in All Categories

"Grandparenting," the final installation of The Maples Stories, concludes with Joan and Richard transitioning into new roles as grandparents for the first time, navigating the strange world of a split yet unified family years after their divorce.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection

A selection from the John Updike audio collection. These extraordinarily evocative stories depict the generation born in a small-town America during the Depression and growing up in a world where the old sexual morality was turned around and material comforts were easily had. Yet, as these stories reflect so accurately, life was still unsettling, and Updike chronicles telling moments both joyful and painful.

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 eleventh story, Richard and Joan, after hosting a party, talk about love and deceit in the suburbs.

The Maples Stories consists of eighteen classic stories from across John Updike's career, forming aluminous chronicle of the life and times of one marriage in all its rich emotional complexity. In the fifteenth installment, "Gesturing," Richard finally leaves the Maples' suburban town after their summer separation, taking an apartment in nearby Boston. Though both he and Joan continue to see their lovers, they can't escape the bond they forged over years of marriage and raising children.

A fantastic short story collection from critically acclaimed and bestselling author John Updike.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author on the value of creative writing, American Democracy, and science.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection. These extraordinarily evocative stories depict the generation born in a small-town America during the Depression and growing up in a world where the old sexual morality was turned around and material comforts were easily had. Yet, as these stories reflect so accurately, life was still unsettling, and Updike chronicles telling moments both joyful and painful.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection. These extraordinarily evocative stories depict the generation born in a small-town America during the Depression and growing up in a world where the old sexual morality was turned around and material comforts were easily had. Yet, as these stories reflect so accurately, life was still unsettling, and Updike chronicles telling moments both joyful and painful.

A selection from the John Updike audio collection.

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 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.

A stunning collection of poems that John Updike wrote during the last seven years of his life. The opening sequence, "Endpoint", is made up of a series of connected poems written on the occasions of his recent birthdays and culminates in his confrontation with his final illness. He looks back on the boy that he was, on the family, the small town, the people, and the circumstances that fed his love of writing, and he finds endless delight and solace in "turning the oddities of life into words".

A selection from the John Updike audio collection. These extraordinarily evocative stories depict the generation born in a small-town America during the Depression and growing up in a world where the old sexual morality was turned around and material comforts were easily had. Yet, as these stories reflect so accurately, life was still unsettling, and Updike chronicles telling moments both joyful and painful.

The Maples Stories consists of eighteen classic stories from across John Updike's career, forming aluminous chronicle of the life and times of one marriage in all its rich emotional complexity. In this ninth story, "Eros Rampant," the loves and loyalties of Maple family are revealed, to the heartbreak of some.

Selected Shorts is an award-winning series of classic and contemporary short fiction read by acclaimed actors. The readings are recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The Selected Shorts radio series is a co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio, and is heard on public radio stations nationwide.