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  • Rabbit at Rest

  • By: John Updike
  • Narrated by: William Hope
  • Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (70 ratings)
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Rabbit at Rest

By: John Updike
Narrated by: William Hope
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Summary

It's 1989, and Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is far from restful. Harry is 56 and overweight, and he has a struggling business on his hands and a heart that is starting to fail. His family, too, are giving him cause for concern.

His son, Nelson, is a wreck of a man, a cocaine addict with shattered self-respect. Janice, his wife, has decided that she wants to be a working girl. And as for Pru, his daughter-in-law, she seems to be sending out signals to Rabbit that he knows he should ignore but somehow can't. He has to make the most of life, after all. He doesn't have much time left....

John Updike was born in 1932 in Shillington, Pennsylvania. He attended Shillington High School, Harvard College and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford, where he spent a year on a Knox Fellowship. From 1955 to 1957 he was a member of the staff of The New Yorker, to which he contributed numerous poems, short stories, essays and book reviews. After 1957 he lived in Massachusetts until his death.

John Updike's first novel, The Poorhouse Fair, was published in 1959. It was followed by Rabbit, Run, the first volume of what have become known as the Rabbit books.

Rabbit Is Rich (1981) and Rabbit at Rest (1990) were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

©1990 John Updike (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"His misplaced sense of responsibility - plus his crude sexual urges and racial slurs - can make Rabbit seem less than lovable. Still, there's something utterly heroic about his character. When the end comes, after all, it's the Angstrom family that refuses to accept the reality of Rabbit's mortality. Only Updike's irreplaceable mouthpiece rises to the occasion, delivering a stoical, one-word valediction: 'Enough.'" (Rob McDonald).
"One of the finest literary achievements to have come out of the US since the war." (John Banville)

What listeners say about Rabbit at Rest

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A magnificent conclusion

The perfect end to a perfect story. He telegraphs the end from the first page, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment. A little terrifying, too.

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  • AB
  • 06-03-23

Genius

Updike is a near genius. His prose is just short of poetic. It is a delight to read/listen to. He makes you see the beauty in the ordinary. I cried at the end.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Unforgettable

I came to ‘Rabbit’ knowing he was my husband’s favourite character.
I became hooked on this story of Harry Angstrom’s life journey- in which the changing social and political life of Americans is also artfully weaved in throughout - so I learned stuff too!
Superb narration by William Hope too. Altogether an unforgettable experience.
‘Rabbit’ will forever be in my heart and I will never pass a Toyota Corolla without thinking of him!

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Truly outstanding

A wonderful conclusion. So worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. Superbly written and perfectly narrated.

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Another chapter: another masterpiece

Almost the final chapter in the story and a fitting ending. American history in the making and Lockerbie are the background in this exquisite story. Updike at his best as the inevitable outcome bounces into realisation almost like a tightly fought basketball game. I loved the narrative, the style and the performance.

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Fantastic series of books

Brilliant set of books, awesome combination of american 20th century history and a man's life

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