My Father's Tears And Other Stories - 9780345513809

"A haunting collection of heart-wrenching narratives...The evocative nature of the stories in My Father's Tears echoes the melancholy of Chekhov, the romanticism of Wordsworth and the mournful spirit of Yeats."---The Seattle Times

"Drinking a toast to the visible world, his impending disappearance from it be damned." That's how John Updike describes an elderly character in his remarkable final collection. He might have been talking about himself. In My Father's Tears, Updike revisits his people, places, and themes---Americans in suburbs, cities, and small towns grappling with faith and infidelity---in vivid portraits of the aged, people for whom the past has become paramount. My Father's Tears is a superb set of tales that is a vital and unforgettable farewell.

"Here, then, on display one last time, are the cardinal virtues of a writer who bestrode the American literary landscape for more than a half century: a virtuosic talent for sensual description, the seemingly effortless weaving of image and theme, and an almost Proustian capacity to absorb the reader in the quiddities of childhood and adolescence."---San Francisco Chronicle

"A self-conscious salute to a grand career of imagining and gorgeously describing our America, along with a wink of gratitude to those readers who have shared the journey."---The Washington Post

"My Father's Tears is vintage Updike, its honesty and courage vaulting it to the top tier of its author's many short-story collections."---St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A New York Times Notable Book Named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times