''Rabbit at Rest'' is a 1990 novel by

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

. It is the fourth and final novel in a tetralogy, succeeding ''

Rabbit, Run ''Rabbit, Run'' is a 1960 novel by John Updike. The novel depicts three months in the life of a 26-year-old former high school basketball player named Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom who is trapped in a loveless marriage and a boring sales job, and hi ...

''; ''

Rabbit Redux ''Rabbit Redux'' is a 1971 novel by John Updike. It is the second book in his "Rabbit" series, beginning with ''Rabbit, Run'' and followed by ''Rabbit Is Rich'', ''Rabbit At Rest'', published from 1960 to 1990, and the related 2001 novella, ''Rab ...

''; and ''

Rabbit Is Rich ''Rabbit Is Rich'' is a 1981 novel by John Updike. It is the third novel of the tetralogy that begins with '' Rabbit, Run'', continues with '' Rabbit Redux'', and concludes with ''Rabbit at Rest''. There is also a related novella, ''Rabbit Reme ...

.'' A related novella, ''

Rabbit Remembered ''Rabbit Remembered'' is a 2001 novella (182 pp.) by John Updike and postscript to his "Rabbit" tetralogy. It first appeared in his collection of short fiction titled ''Licks of Love''. Portions of the novella first appeared in ''The New Yorker ...

'', was published in 2001. ''Rabbit at Rest'' won the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

in 1991, the second "Rabbit" novel to garner that award.

Plot summary

This novel is part of the series that follows the life of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom from 1960 to 1990. ''Rabbit at Rest'' focuses on the years 1988–89. Harry, nearly 40 years after his glory days as a high school basketball star in a mid-sized

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

city, has retired with Janice, his wife of 33 years, to sunny Florida during the cold months, where Harry is depressed, dangerously overweight and desperate for reasons to keep on living. Unable to stop nibbling corn chips, macadamia nuts and other junk food, Rabbit nearly dies after a heart attack while sunfishing with his nine-year-old granddaughter, Judy. In a "redemption" of the drowning death of his infant daughter Rebecca in the earlier novel ''

'', he saves Judy from drowning during their sunfishing afternoon. He is distracted from his own existential worries by the acts of his drug-addicted son, Nelson, to whom Janice (the actual owner of the Angstroms' wealth) has given control of the family's thriving business, a Pennsylvania

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

dealership. The discovery that Nelson has been stealing from the company to support his drug habit causes Harry to lose the family business. Despite his multiplying difficulties, Rabbit manages to take solace in the presence of Judy, who has matured into a beautiful and charming young lady, reminding him of his high-school glory days. He is less attached to his four-year-old grandson Roy, who seems wary and fearful of Rabbit, much like Nelson. While recuperating from heart surgery, Rabbit recognizes a nurse, Annabelle Byer, as his illegitimate daughter by his old girlfriend, Ruth. He spends time with her without identifying himself as her likely father. Then, his long-term mistress, Thelma Harrison (wife of his high-school nemesis Ron), dies of

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

. Ron confronts Harry at Thelma's funeral, but the men later reconcile over golf. Harry also encounters Cindy Murkett at the funeral, a woman he had once been obsessed with, and is saddened to see she has become an obese and bitter divorcee. After Nelson comes back from a treatment program, and Janice begins work as a real estate agent, the family finds out that Harry has had a one-night stand with Pru, Nelson's wife, on the night after he was released from the hospital. Janice's anger over this betrayal prompts Harry to escape to Florida. While in hiding, Harry has a heart attack shortly after winning a one-on-one basketball game with a local youth (echoing the opening of ''

'' in which Harry impulsively joins a group of teenagers playing basketball). Nelson and Janice reach Harry's bedside while he is still alive. Janice forgives him for his infidelities and he reconciles with his son. His personal business now largely resolved, Rabbit dies.

Themes

The novel deals with the passage of time, and generational change. Harry's decline mirrors the decline of the United States which, in the period the novel is set, lacks what Harry saw as its animating purpose: the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

References

External links

''New York Times'' review

Photos of the first edition of Rabbit At Rest
{{Authority control 1990 American novels Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning works Novels by John Updike Alfred A. Knopf books Fiction set in 1988 Fiction set in 1989 English-language novels National Book Critics Circle Award-winning works Novels set in Pennsylvania