John Updike (1932 – 2009) wrote dark, complex and delicate short stories about everyday life in small towns and the everyday sorrows of husbands and wifes. His ‚Rabbit‘ series of novels has gotten better and better (try ‚Rabbit at Rest‘, 1990)…

…and 103 of his short stories are collected in a beautiful collection called simply ‚The Early Stories: 1953 – 1975‘:

I read the book last year and marked my favourites.

Especially the earliest stories are surprisingly fresh and atmospheric.

Give them a try!

• Friends from Philadelphia
• A Sense of Shelter (Google Doc)
• The Lucid Eye in Silver Town
• Ace in the Hole
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and So Forth
• Home
• Dear Alexandros

Later in the book, I can recommend the following:

• A Gift from the City
• The Orphaned Swimming Pool
• My Lover has Dirty Fingernails
• The Taste of Metal
• Transaction
• The Man Who Loved Extinct Mammals

Twelve bad and uninspired stories from the same collection:

• At a Bar in Charlotte Amalie
• Incest
• The Crow in the Woods
• Wife-Wooing
• Leaves
• The Stare
• Museums and Women
• The Morning
• Lifeguard
• Commercial
• The Dark
• Augustine’s Concubine

All in all: A good quota. Lots of solid – and some outstanding – classic US short stories.

4 of 5 stars. Great summer reading. Recommended!

Amazon.com: Link

Amazon.de: Link