American author John Hoyer Updike was born on March 18, 1932, in Shillington, Pennsylvania. His father, Wesley, was a high school mathematics teacher, the model for several sympathetic father figures in Updike's early works. Because Updike's mother, Linda Grace Hoyer Updike, had literary dreams of her own, books were a large part of the boy's early life. Updike began his remarkable career as a poet in 1958 by publishing his first volume, a collection of poems titled The Carpentered Hen. He often expounded upon characters from earlier novels, eliding decades of their lives only to place them in the middle of new adventures. The Witches of Eastwick, about a coven of witches, was followed by The Widows of Eastwick, which trails the women into old age. Rabbit at Rest is the fourth novel in a series beginning with Rabbit, Run. Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom retired. His son Nelson has become a cocaine addict and has run the family Toyota dealership irretrievably to ground. Wife Janice is having late stirrings of independence, studying for a real-estate license. But Harry effectively is beyond the social net: his days are coloured by rays of doom, melancholy, and desuetude. The candy, salty snacks, and fried foods he stuffs into himself. Between them, Harry's other strongest life-force briefly and unexpectedly kicks in as well, involving a one-night mutual consolation, in bed, with Nelson's wife Pru. Listen online to free English audiobook "Rabbit at Rest” on our website to experience John Updike's work.
