Word: rabbiting
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...RABBIT AT REST...
...might say it's a depressed book about a depressed man, written by a depressed man." That is how John Updike described his forthcoming novel, Rabbit at Rest, to a convention of booksellers in June. Some of his market- minded listeners may have wondered if they could find some way that the book could be pitched as anything but . . . depressing. There was no need to worry. This fourth, and presumably final, installment of the life and times of Harold C. Angstrom -- Rabbit Run (1960), Rabbit Redux (1971), Rabbit Is Rich (1981) -- is far more upbeat than its subject matter would...
Updike includes these details in what is obviously a well-researched summary of contemporary American culture. Rabbit is supposed to astound us with his oblivion. He sexual exploits, for example, are shocking, but he reacts passionlessly to them. The thrill of Updike's prose lies in its wit in describing the most outrageous events in the most non-commital tone...
...Joycean novel, Rabbit at Rest is not without its epiphany. After Rabbit's second heart attack, he has life almost all figured out. "`Well Nelson,' he says, `all I can tell...
That may not seem like much of a testimonial, but it is Rabbit's most expressive and passionate commentary about life. In coming to terms with his existence, he has decided that living and dying are not such terrible events. Things may fall apart in Rabbit's world, but Updike seems to say that that is the way life is. And the way that Updike presents life makes it interesting just to watch where all of the pieces land...