Rabbit at rest

Rabbit, now in his 50s and with a heart condition, is living in a condo in Florida. Nelson and his family come to stay and disaster unfolds. Rabbit has a serious heart attack after a boating accident with his granddaughter and Nelson has been embezzling the family firm to feed his cocaine habit.We are in the final year of Ronald Reagan's anesthetized rule - ''Everything falling apart, airplanes, bridges, eight years... of nobody minding the store, making money out of nothing, running up debt, trusting in God.'' In John Updike’s fourth and final novel about Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, the hero has acquired a Florida condo, a second grandchild, and a troubled, overworked heart. His son, Nelson, is behaving erratically; his daughter-in-law, Pru, is sending him mixed signals; and his wife, Janice, decides in midlife to return to the world of work. As, through the year 1989, Reagan’s debt-ridden, AIDS-plagued America yields to that of the first George Bush, Rabbit explores the bleak terrain of late middle age, looking for reasons to live and opportunities to make peace with a remorselessly accumulating past."''Rabbit at Rest'' is certainly the most brooding, the most demanding, the most concentrated of John Updike's longer novels...It is a measure of John Updike's prescience in creating Rabbit Angstrom 30 years ago that, in the concluding pages of ''Rabbit, Run,'' Rabbit's ill-treated lover Ruth should speak of him in disgust as ''Mr. Death.'' If Mr Death is also, and enthusiastically, Uncle Sam, then the Rabbit quartet constitutes a powerful critique of America." - Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Times EDITORIAL REVIEW: ''Rabbit at Rest'', the delightful last novel in the rabbit sequence, is both comic and moving. Rabbit, now in his middle fifties, is living in a condo in Florida. Nelson and his wife and children come to stay and disaster ensues; Rabbit has a serious heart attack after a boating attack with his granddaughter and Nelson is discovered to have been embezzling the family firm to feed his cocaine habit. The resolution of the Angstrom Family's conflicts is brilliantly described and draws a fascinatingly detailed picture of America at the beginning of the 1990s. It's 1989, and Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom is far from restful. Fifty-six and overweight, he has a struggling business on his hands and a heart that is starting to fail. His family, too, are giving him cause for concern. His son Nelson is a wreck of a man, a cocaine addict with shattered self-respect. Janice, his wife, has decided that she wants to be a working girl. And as for Pru, his daughter-in-law, she seems to be sending out signals to Rabbit that he knows he should ignore, but somehow can't. He has to make the most of life, after all. He doesn't have much time left ... Ex-basketball Player Harry 'rabbit' Angstrom Has Acquired Heart Trouble, A Florida Condo And A Second Grandchild. His Son, Nelson, Is Behaving Erratically And His Wife, Janice, Decides In Mid-life To Become A Working Girl. As, Through The Winter, Spring And Summer Of 1989, Reagan's Debt-ridden, Aids-plagued America Yields To That Of George Bush, Rabbit Explores The Bleak Terrain Of Late Middle Age, Looking For Reasons To Live. John Updike.