Olinger Stories (Everyman's Library Pocket Classics Series)

I felt it was my duty to read Updike since he provided the authentic sounding of Olinger, long "O" and hard "g." What I found was a writer who struck so close to home in regard to my rural family upbringing that I would cringe. But, the pain was worthwhile, and there was always redemption in the end, however slight. This set of short stories reveal Updike at his glorious best.In a interview, Updike once said, "they are dear to me, and if I had to give anyone one book of me it would be the Vintage OLINGER STORIES." Arguably Updike's two greatest short stories are found in this collection, "Pigeon Feathers" and "Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, a Dying Cat, a Traded Car." These are stories of his youth with a strong theological bent, and yet so powerful.Author Lorrie Moore wrote of "Packed Dirt":"I was stunned, held paralyzed by the story's beauty, as if by some genius Doberman pincher. I could not move to read anything else. Surely, I would never read anything else, only this. I held the book so long, I got a paper cut and bled on the page."Well worth the time, and a great place to start if you have never read Updike before.

A fine new edition of John Updike's famous autobiographical stories of his youth - writings HE treasures.

Beautiful John Updike takes you back to his beginnings as only he can with fluid images and superb writing that pulls you in like no other writer.

Beautiful. Love it.

GREAT

updike’s run on sentences held together by the singular conjunction ‘and’ or by semi-colons, sentences with so much stuff crammed into them, beg for a return to the beginning to retrace steps to find what one forgot. certainly off putting for readers of traditional stories. a couple of the stories, aren’t even real stories but a grouping of reminiscences by a fictional author gathered under a long title, reminding the reader of future fugitive pieces updike captured in his books of essays.there are themes seen for the first time.in his first professionally published story, FRIENDS FROM PHILADELPHIA, john updike used for the first time the word he would use in various forms of writing over the decades,‘delicious’. here it is, ’ When she pouted, John thought she was delicious’. and again with IN FOOTBALL SEASON, the last published short story for this collection, ‘We were at that innocent age, on the borderline of sixteen, when damnation seemed a delicious promise.’indeed, the OLINGER STORIES are a delicious promise readers watched fulfilled throughout updike’s writing career.his visits to doctor offices he will return to on a regular basis, starting with the persistance of desire, a story also containing his first stirrings of adultery, the mention of which is as early as the mention of marriage. adultery is an invitation to damnation, as may be sexual activities without marriage, for the fifteen year old boy damning and delicious. the proverbial perception of a young man at nineteen is of ‘A girl who has received out of nowhere a gift worth all Africa’s ivory and Asia’s gold wants more than just a good guy to bestow it on.’at thirteen, in PIGEON FEATHERS, a boy brought up in a lutheran home has a crisis of faith after reading from one of his mother’s books h g wells’ all too human atheistic description of jesus. unable to answer wells’ assertions, a confusion becomes doubt and doubt leads to dread and a fear of death which neither the boy’s father nor minister can assuage. the boy’s crisis becomes near existential and will lead to the later updike’s embrace of theology and the christian philosophers.updike’s first mention of art and his first visited museum appeared in PACKED DIRT, CHURCHGOING, A DYING CAT, A TRADED CAR, published in 1962. the same year the title story of updike’s MUSEUM AND WOMEN, contained a description of the fictionalized museum in reading, pennsylvania, used twice the museum would be visited thrice, cited, sans disguise, in JUST LOOKING, one of updike’s collections on art.the beauty of updike’s writing in the OLINGER STORIES is often rhapsodic, and like the songs found in the old testament, his prose approaches rapture.

On the whole, this is an enjoyable set of Updike short stories. If you've read his other fiction, then Olinger Stories is an interesting addition because many were written early in his career and you definitely get a sense of Updike's later tone, his elegant descriptions of 'ordinary' American life, and his dense prose style.Many of the stories here cover youthful themes: growing up, learning about girls, parties, parents, courting, loss of elder family members, religion, and so on. A few later stories see the author reflecting on manhood. They're mostly narrative-driven (I recall only one not being so) which keeps them interesting and readable.Updike's later Rabbit and Bech novels display far more of an anguished tone, and deeper, darker themes. Some of that is brewing under the surface in these short stories, but there's also an ease and hope about many of these tales that is quite refreshing, despite the somewhat melancholy themes.As an aside, while it's rare that I'd comment about the appearance of a book, this one is quite elegant: a hardback but still small and easy to hold with a mustard bookmark ribbon and colorful dust-jacket.

I used to be able to sit down and read a good, solid book by an excellent writer in a day or so. This is not the case since I had children. Now I hardly have enough time to use the bathroom in peace. For this reason, I like to grab collections of short stories when I can, and read small nuggets of good literature. And it is for this reason that I picked up these autobiographical short stories by John Updike.John Updike is one of the leading writers of the 20th century in America. Olinger Stories is a collection of his autobiographical short stories that has been out for a long time. This printing of this fine book is a small hardback. It has an excellent cover and a ribbon. It would be great for putting in one's purse and backpack and getting in a quick read while the kids are on the playground, or while you are waiting to be seen in the doctors office.

Received used copy. Not happy with celler. As per the Amazon description, this book must contain 400 pages. But this is a very small size 217 pages book. Stories are good, but not happy with overall experience.