The Poorhouse Fair
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. First Thus. Hard Cover. Very Good / Near Fine. Item #2330634
ISBN: 0394410505
First thus. Minor general wear to jacket. Boards soiled, page ridges lightly foxed.
xx, 185 pp. With a new introduction by the author. 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.
Price: $10.00