EARLY STORIES, THE

""Heisareligiouswriter;heisacomicrealist;heknowswhateverythingfeelslike,howeverythingworks.Heisputtingtogetherabodyofworkwhichinsubstantialintelligentcreationwilleventuallybeseenassecondtononeinourtime."--WilliamH.Pritchard,TheHudsonReview,reviewingMuseumsandWomen(1972)"Aharvestandnotawinnowing,"TheEarlyStories"preservesalmostalloftheshortfictionJohnUpdikepublishedbetween1954and1975.Thestoriesarearrangedineightsections,ofwhichthefirst,"OlingerStories,"alreadyappearedasapaperbackin1964;initsintroduction,UpdikedescribedOlinger,Pennsylvania,as"asquaremileofmiddle-classhomesphysicallydistinguishedbyabendinthecentralavenuethatcompelssomesidestreetstodeviatefromthegridpattern."Theseeleventales,whoseheroesagefromtentooverthirtybutremainatheartOlingerboys,arefollowedbygroupingstitled"OutintheWorld,""MarriedLife,"and"FamilyLife,"tracingacommonAmericantrajectory.Familylifeisdisruptedbytheadventof"TheTwoIseults,"abifurcationoriginatinginanothersmalltown,Tarbox,Massachusetts,wherethePuritanheritageco-existswithpost-Christianmorals."TarboxTales"arefollowedby"FarOut,"agroupofmoreorlessexperimentalfictionsontheedgeofdomesticspace,and"TheSingleLife,"whoseprotagonistsareunmarriedandunmoored.Oftheseonehundredthreestories,eightyfirstappearedin"TheNewYorker,"andtheothertwenty-threeinjournalsfromtheenduring"AtlanticMonthly"and"Harper's"tothedefunct"BigTable"and"TransatlanticReview."AllshowMr.Updike'switandverbalfelicity,hisreverenceforordinarylife,andhisloveofthetransientworld."FromtheHardcoveredition."