Rabbit, Run
The defining starting point for the Rabbit novels and one of Updike's best-known novels.
Author guide
John Updike Books in Order
John Hoyer Updike (1932–2009) was an American author whose prolific career encompassed novels, short stories, poetry, essays, literary and art criticism, memoirs, plays, children's books, and limited-edition publications. His fiction frequently examined American middle-class life, marriage, sexuality, religion, aging, and artistic ambition. He is especially known for the Rabbit novels, the Henry Bech stories, and novels including The Centaur, Couples, The Witches of Eastwick, and In the Beauty of the Lilies. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
literary fictionshort storiespoetryessaysliterary criticismart criticismmemoirplayschildren's literature
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
The Centaur
A concise, formally inventive novel and a major early work.
Bech: A Book
An accessible entry to Updike's comic literary-fiction and short-story cycle.
Read in order
Books by series
novel-series · complete
Rabbit novels
Four novels following Harry Angstrom, known as Rabbit, across several decades of American life.
short-story-cycle · complete
Henry Bech
A comic short-story cycle about the fictional Jewish novelist Henry Bech.
novel-trilogy · complete
The Scarlet Letter trilogy
Three novels that rework characters, situations, and themes associated with Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
novel-series · complete
Eastwick novels
Two novels about the women and community of Eastwick, Rhode Island.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (18)
-
The Poorhouse FairAmazon ↗novel · 1959
- The CentaurAmazon ↗
novel · 1963
-
Of the FarmAmazon ↗novel · 1965
-
CouplesAmazon ↗novel · 1968
- The IndianAmazon ↗
novel · 1971
- Warm Wine: An IdyllAmazon ↗
novella · 1973
- A Good PlaceAmazon ↗
nonfiction · 1973
-
Marry Me: A RomanceAmazon ↗novel · 1976
-
The CoupAmazon ↗novel · 1978
- People One Knows: Interviews with Insufficiently Famous AmericansAmazon ↗
nonfiction · 1980
-
Memories of the Ford AdministrationAmazon ↗novel · 1992
-
BrazilAmazon ↗novel · 1994
-
In the Beauty of the LiliesAmazon ↗novel · 1996
-
Toward the End of TimeAmazon ↗novel · 1997
-
Gertrude and ClaudiusAmazon ↗novel · 2000
-
Seek My FaceAmazon ↗novel · 2002
-
VillagesAmazon ↗novel · 2004
-
TerroristAmazon ↗novel · 2006
Nonfiction (2)
Short fiction (18)
-
The Same DoorAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1959
-
Pigeon Feathers and Other StoriesAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1962
- The Music SchoolAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1966
- Museums and Women and Other StoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1972
- Couples: A Short StoryAmazon ↗
standalone-short-story · 1976
- From the Journal of a LeperAmazon ↗
standalone-short-story · 1978
- Too Far to Go: The Maples StoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1979
- Problems and Other StoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1979
- The Chaste PlanetAmazon ↗
standalone-short-story · 1980
- The BelovedAmazon ↗
standalone-short-story · 1982
- More Stately MansionsAmazon ↗
standalone-short-story · 1987
- Trust Me: StoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1987
- Love FactoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1993
-
The Afterlife and Other StoriesAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1994
- A&PAmazon ↗
standalone-short-story · 1998
-
Licks of Love: Short Stories and a SequelAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 2000
-
My Father's Tears and Other StoriesAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 2009
Essays and speeches (20)
-
Assorted ProseAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1965
-
Picked-Up PiecesAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1975
- Hub Fans Bid Kid AdieuAmazon ↗
essay · 1977
- Talk from the FiftiesAmazon ↗
essay-collection · 1979
- Hawthorne's CreedAmazon ↗
essay · 1981
-
Hugging the Shore: Essays and CriticismAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1983
- Confessions of a Wild BoreAmazon ↗
essay · 1984
- EmersonianismAmazon ↗
lecture · 1984
-
Just Looking: Essays on ArtAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1989
-
Odd Jobs: Essays and CriticismAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1991
-
Golf Dreams: Writings on GolfAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1996
- Of Prizes and PrintAmazon ↗
essay-collection · 1998
-
More Matter: Essays and CriticismAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1999
- On Literary BiographyAmazon ↗
essay · 2000
- Humor in FictionAmazon ↗
essay · 2001
- Still Looking: Essays on American ArtAmazon ↗
essay-collection · 2005
-
Due Considerations: Essays and CriticismAmazon ↗essay-collection · 2007
-
Higher GossipAmazon ↗essay-collection · 2011
-
Always Looking: Essays on ArtAmazon ↗essay-collection · 2012
Children's books (5)
Poetry (18)
- The Carpentered Hen and Other Tame CreaturesAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1958
- Telephone Poles and Other PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1963
-
A Child's CalendarAmazon ↗poetry-collection · 1965
- The AngelsAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1968
- Bath after SailingAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1968
- Midpoint and Other PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1969
-
Seventy PoemsAmazon ↗poetry-collection · 1972
- Six PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1973
- CuntsAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1974
- Tossing and TurningAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1977
- Sixteen SonnetsAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1979
- Five PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1980
- Spring TrioAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1982
- Jester's DozenAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 1984
- Facing Nature: PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1985
- Americana and Other PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 2001
- Not Cancelled YetAmazon ↗
poetry-chapbook · 2003
-
Endpoint and Other PoemsAmazon ↗poetry-collection · 2009
Plays (1)
- Buchanan DyingAmazon ↗
play · 1974
Other (5)
- Three Texts from Early IpswichAmazon ↗
historical-pageant · 1968
- Invasion of the Book EnvelopesAmazon ↗
ephemera · 1981
- ImpressionsAmazon ↗
graphic-work · 1985
- The First Picture Book: Everyday Things for BabiesAmazon ↗
graphic-work · 1991
-
The Twelve Terrors of ChristmasAmazon ↗graphic-work · 1993