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      The Afterlife and Other Stories

      by John Updike
      Published
      Nov 1994
      Main Genre
      General Fiction General Fiction
      Rating
      Pages
      324
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      About This Book

      "Marvelously moving . . . These tales evoke a certain peace and a definite wonder at what an astonishingly graceful writer Updike is."—USA Today

      To the hero of the title story of this collection, all of England has the glow of an afterlife: "A miraculous lacquer lay upon everything, beading each roadside twig . . . each reed of thatch, each tiny daisy trembling in the grass." All of these stories, each in its own way, partake of this glow, as life beyond middle age is explored and found to have its own exquisite dearness. As death approaches, existence takes on, for some of Updike's aging characters, a translucence, a magical fragility; vivid memory and casual misperception lend the mundane an antic texture, and the backward view, lengthening, acquires a certain grandeur. Here is a world where wonder stubbornly persists, and fresh beginnings almost outnumber losses.

      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      General Fiction

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      Formats & Editions

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      Paperback

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      Mass Market Paperback
      Oct 1995 Fawcett ISBN13 9780449223918 ISBN10 0449223914
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      Trade Paperback
      May 1996 Penguin (UK) ISBN13 9780140245066 ISBN10 0140245065
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      Trade Paperback
      Sep 1996 Ballantine ISBN13 9780449912010 ISBN10 0449912019
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      Hardcover

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      Hardcover
      First Edition Oct 1994 Knopf ISBN13 9780679435839 ISBN10 0679435832
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      eBook

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      eBook
      May 2009 Random House Audio ISBN13 9780307702524 ISBN10 0307702529
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      eBook
      Oct 2009 Random House ISBN13 9780307416773 ISBN10 0307416771
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      eBook
      Oct 2009 Random House Trade Paperbacks ISBN10 B002SVQD1Y
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      eBook
      Mar 2010 Random House ISBN13 9780307554178 ISBN10 0307554171
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      Audio

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      Audio Cassette
      Nov 1994 Random House Audio ISBN13 9780679436577 ISBN10 067943657X
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      Audible
      Jun 2009 Random House Audio ISBN10 B002E04DOS
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      audible.com (abridged)
      Jun 2009 Random House Audio ISBN10 B002V0K7F0
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