The Poorhouse Fair

The hero of John Updike’s first novel, published when the author was twenty-six, is ninety-four-year-old John Hook, a dying man who yet refuses to be dominated. His world is a poorhouse — a county home for the aged and infirm — overseen by Stephen Conner, a righteous young man who considers it his duty to know what is best for others. The action of the novel unfolds over a single summer’s day, the day of the poorhouse’s annual fair, a day of escalating tensions between Conner and the rebellious Hook. Its climax is a contest between progress and tradition, benevolence and pride, reason and faith.

• Author
• John Updike

• Format
• paperback

• Pages
• 176

• Publisher
• Random House Trade Paperbacks

• Language
• english

• ISBN
• 9780345468239

• Genres
• fiction, literature, novels, classics, american, contemporary

• Release date
• 2012