Rabbit Is Rich

By: John Updike

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The middle-aged hero of Rabbit, Run, returns—from one of the most gifted American writers of the twentieth century.

The hero of John Updike's Rabbit, Run (1960), ten years after the hectic events described in Rabbit Redux (1971), has come to enjoy considerable prosperity as Chief Sales Representative of Springer Motors, a Toyota agency in Brewer, Pennsylvania. The time is 1979: Skylab is falling, gas lines are lengthening, the President collapses while running in a marathon, and double-digit inflation coincides with a deflation of national confidence. Nevertheless, Harry Angstrom feels in good shape, ready to enjoy life at last—until his son, Nelson, returns from the West, and the image of an old love pays a visit to his lot. New characters and old populate these scenes from Rabbit's middle age, as he continues to pursue, in his erratic fashion, the rainbow of happiness.©1996 John Updike; (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"The reviewers seemed to be under the impression that the hero was a terrible character. It's incredible! No, I think it's the most interesting American novel I've read in quite a long time"

—Mary McCarthy, interviewed in The Paris Review

"The power of the novel comes from a sense, not absolutely unworthy of Thomas Hardy, that the universe hangs over our fates like a great sullen hopeless sky. There is real pain in the book, and a touch of awe"

—Norman Mailer, Esquire

"...An American protest against all the attempts to impress upon us the 'healthy, life-loving and comic' as our standard for novels. It is sexy, in bad taste, violent, and basically cynical. And good luck to it."

—Angus Wilson, naming three Books of the Year in the Observer

And Rabbit Redux

"Against all odds, Rabbit Redux is a sequel that succeeds; it is in every respect uncannily superior to its distinguished predecessor and deserves to achieve even greater critical and popular acclaim."

—Brendan Gill, The New Yorker

"I can think of no stronger vindication of the claims of essentially realistic fiction than this extraordinary synthesis of the disparate elements of contemporary experience. Rabbit Redux is a great achievement, by far the most audacious and successful book Updike has written."

—The New York Times Book Review

Mesmerizing

Out of the 200+ books in my Audible library, I’ve listened to this one by far the most, over and over. But I love Updike and the Rabbit trilogy, especially. This novel won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. So the man can write. It’s a study of human behavior and how the norms of the time change and effect it all. Not much happens plot-wise but you’ll recognize everything and everyone, especially if you remember the decade covered here - the 70s. Arthur Morey, the narrator for all these novels is equally as gifted as Updike in his discipline.

Brilliant narration by Arthur Morey

Arthur Morey brilliantly brings to life the inner life and vulnerable, tattered yet resilient humanity of Rabbit and the cast of other characters that Updike fashions with uncanny verisimilitude. Bravo AM. Bravo Audible. These books were made for narration, and AM is a master of his craft, as if he is inhabiting the spirit and body of the novel’s hero.

Interesting book.

Great writing. Although rabbit is a bit of a sad character, I still found him interesting.

One of the best books I’ve read

Finished listening to the book this morning (10 Feb 2023), it’s been some 10 hours since then. Some time to calm down. But I am still full of superlatives thinking about the book. It is so beautiful, so life-like - profound, profane, angry, kind, sad, sometimes for a brief moment happy, tethered to the ever present death. This is great book. How / why hasn’t John Updike received a Nobel is beyond me. The performance / reading is also great.

I don't know why I continue this series...

But I do. Harry is perhaps the most unsympathetic protagonist to ever receive several thousand pages of active invasive third person narrative... And I still can't grasp who he is or what he looks like, or why Updike created him... And for what purpose? To pick the scabs of white sururbia? To reveal the essence of misogyny? To kill of his inner sexual demons? Not sure where to laugh or cry. I mostly sigh, cringe, or lose track of what the purpose of poolside banter is... But I keep listening and moving from one book to the next. I often feel Arthur Morrie feels the same and can't decide what tone to read in. But he's excellent.