
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.
- Publisher
- Random House
- ISBN-13
- 9780679645771
- Genre
- Topics
Awards
- National Book Award for FictionShortlistedMajor(1960)
Other awarded books from John Updike
- Rabbit is Rich (2006)3 wins · 36 score
- Rabbit at Rest (2006)2 wins · 24 score
- The Centaur (2007)1 win · 12 score
- The Early Stories: 1953-1975 (2007)1 win · 12 score
- Bech: A Book (2012)0 wins · 4 score
- Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories (1963)0 wins · 4 score
- Rabbit Redux (2010)0 wins · 4 score
- Rabbit, Run (1960)0 wins · 4 score
- Roger's Version (2006)0 wins · 4 score
- The Coup (2006)0 wins · 4 score
- The Witches of Eastwick (2012)0 wins · 4 score
- Too Far to Go (2012)0 wins · 4 score
If you liked The Poorhouse Fair, you could also like these

Rabbit Redux
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

Rabbit at Rest
John Updike
2 wins · 24 score

The Early Stories: 1953-1975
John Updike
1 win · 12 score

Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

Rabbit, Run
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

Rabbit is Rich
John Updike
3 wins · 36 score

Roger's Version
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

Ending Up
Kingsley Amis
0 wins · 4 score

The Hook
Barry B. Longyear
1 win · 5 score

Bech: A Book
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

Too Far to Go
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

The Witches of Eastwick
John Updike
0 wins · 4 score

The Centaur
John Updike
1 win · 12 score

The Morning and the Evening
Joan Williams
0 wins · 4 score

The Old Devils
Kingsley Amis
1 win · 12 score
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