18 stories

In his postscript for Updike in The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik writes that Updike was one of the few American writers to get himself expressed fully, and the reader gets the sense from his final collection of short stories that Updike drew heavily from his experience as an elderly man of letters reflecting back on a life of relationships. If these stories are the last records of his life memories, you have to marvel at the steady competence of a writer who is both so personal expressive but also has such an eye for detail and an ear for language. Nothing in Updike's style or content is earth-shattering, but his quiet mastery of the form gives his stories a surprising depth and warmth. ( )

I can't believe that I'm the only person to list this book on Librarything as of 3/13/17.. Surely a mistake? ( )

The stories seemed repetitive--older men looking back on their life and not finding much meaning or hope in their experiences. ( )

I do not read short stories much but have not read any of John Updike's books and thought this might be a good sampler of his stuff. I still don't know if I'll read any of his books. Maybe in the future. Of these short stories some were better than others but nothing that really jumped out at me. ( )