false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255648700m/5668391.jpg 5668391 7 <p>John Updike’s first collection of new short fiction since 2000 finds the author in a valedictory mood as he mingles narratives of his native Pennsylvania with stories of New England suburbia and of foreign travel.<br><br>“Personal Archaeology” considers life as a sequence of half-buried layers, and “The Full Glass” distills a lifetime’s happiness into one brimming moment of an old man’s bedtime routine. High-school class reunions, in “Fiftieth” and “The Road Home,” restore their hero to youth’s commonwealth where, as the narrator of the title story confides, “the self I value is stored, however infrequently I check on its condition.” Exotic locales encountered in the journeys of adulthood include Morocco, Florida, Spain, Italy, and India. The territory of childhood, with its fundamental, formative mysteries, is explored in “The Guardians,” “The Laughter of the Gods,” and “Kinderszenen.” Love’s fumblings among the bourgeoisie yield the tart comedy of “Free,” “Delicate Wives,” “The Apparition,” and “Outage.”<br><br>In sum, American experience from the Depression to the aftermath of 9/11 finds reflection in these glittering pieces of observation, remembrance, and imagination.</p> 5839935 2 6 2009 My Father's Tears and Other Stories total:97|5:25|4:33|3:32|2:7|1:0| 97 367 277 35 4 23 false false Sun Jun 14 12:14:54 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 15:40:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Oct 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 07:54:23 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 14:50:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 07:53:37 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 19:09:05 -0700 2009 once more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 30 11:26:24 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 11:26:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Oct 10 10:03:20 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 10:06:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 04 21:37:07 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 21:32:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 05:14:17 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 05:17:38 -0700 2009 One of my favorite lines "I have never really left Pennsylvania, that is where the self I value is stored, no matter how infrequently I check on its condition." Like any collection of short stories, I enjoyed some more tha...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jul 14 17:53:30 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 17:56:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 29 08:09:37 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 08:15:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 11:56:37 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 12:08:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 05 17:27:37 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 17:28:43 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 07:51:20 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 07:53:04 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 08:08:31 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 08:11:51 -0700 2009
]]> 2 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 04:38:51 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 04:40:21 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Aug 16 10:17:52 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 10:21:20 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 20:07:03 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 14:08:28 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 13:59:52 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 14:43:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 16:24:10 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 10:41:41 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 07:26:43 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 10:49:51 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 12:43:18 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 12:57:29 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5668391