RABBIT REMEMBERED by John Updike

Finished Mo 9/5/11 Labor Day

RABBIT REMEMBERED is a John Updike novella which is included in a collection of his short stories called, LICKS OF LOVE. Updike's 'Harry Angstrom' books occurred to me when I read Jonathan Franzen's, FREEDOM, and I did not realize that Updike had written a new work in The 'Rabbit' Series which takes place ten years after the main character had died. Both authors construct wonderfully diverse and multi-faceted family situations which occur over long periods of time.

Here is what Publisher's Weekly had to say about RABBIT REMEMBERED-

Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom has been dead for a decade in Rabbit Remembered, the novella that closes this latest, richly evocative Updike collection. His widow, Janice, is married to Ronnie Harrison, the widower of Thelma, with whom Harry had a long-time liaison. His son Nelson's wife, Pru, whom Harry also briefly bedded, has left Nelson, who has kicked the coke habit and still lives in the old Springer house with Janice and Ronnie. The past surfaces unexpectedly when Annabelle Byers, Harry's illegitimate daughter, makes herself known to the family. The ramifications of Harry's legacy include a strained Thanksgiving dinner that degenerates into political argument and acrimonious insults, and a mordantly funny flashback to a scene in which Harry's cremated remains were inadvertently left on a closet shelf in a Comfort Inn. While Updike explores the dark territory of bitterness, resentment and guilt, he also includes his trademark ticker-tape of current events (Hillary's candidacy, etc.), a typically muddled millennium New Year's Eve and a surprisingly upbeat denouement. For Rabbit fans, this is a must-read.

One of these days I want to go back and read the other books in the series one more time. RABBIT REMEMBERED can be read as a 'stand alone' novel, or, as in my case, it can whet your appetite for more of the Harry Angstrom saga.