Rating: 
Summary: My Rabbit Fix Arrives
Review: Ahh, the Rabbit series. Could it be that this is truly the end? Oh well, at least it went out with a bang. Wow, what a novella. I felt myself glued to the page as I followed the exploits of the characters I've grown to know and love. As usual, the Angstroms (and friends) face their usual dose of fights and hardships, losses and bittersweet victories with the same stolidness that has characterized them since day one. I must say, though, I was a bit surprised to see a Rabbit novel with an actual happy ending (however disfunctional that ending may be). Now there was a surprise!The downside of Licks of Love are the short stories, which are uneven at best. There are a few exceptions, such as "The Cats," a touching and moving story about a man moving on after the death of his mother. But over all, they are not up to Updike standards. Still, Updike standards are high indeed, and the stories are at least readable. So, while this may be the end of a brilliant series of true literary genius, I am relieved to say that at least it ended with a bang, not a whimper.
Rating:
Summary: My Rabbit Fix Arrives
Review: Ahh, the Rabbit series. Could it be that this is truly the end? Oh well, at least it went out with a bang. Wow, what a novella. I felt myself glued to the page as I followed the exploits of the characters I've grown to know and love. As usual, the Angstroms (and friends) face their usual dose of fights and hardships, losses and bittersweet victories with the same stolidness that has characterized them since day one. I must say, though, I was a bit surprised to see a Rabbit novel with an actual happy ending (however disfunctional that ending may be). Now there was a surprise! The downside of Licks of Love are the short stories, which are uneven at best. There are a few exceptions, such as "The Cats," a touching and moving story about a man moving on after the death of his mother. But over all, they are not up to Updike standards. Still, Updike standards are high indeed, and the stories are at least readable. So, while this may be the end of a brilliant series of true literary genius, I am relieved to say that at least it ended with a bang, not a whimper.
Rating:
Summary: Salty & Sweet--Still An Updike Treat
Review: In Licks of Love, Updike fires off one of the ''Rabbit'' stories he dreams up every decade or so. The 182 page ''Rabbit Remembered'' tries to work both sides of the street, to document the dying months of the '90s while conjuring the spirit of a hopeless narcissist. Forty years ago, ''Rabbit, Run'' introduced Harry ''Rabbit'' Angstrom, the rangy, aimless middle American who'd go on to star in three further novels. Harry died in 1990's ''Rabbit at Rest,'' and ''Rabbit Remembered,'' a tail to the tale, looks at what was left in his wake. A doorbell hoarsely rings in Brewer, Pa., and Janice Harrison, Harry's remarried widow, is staring across her doorstep at a somewhat sluttish looking nurse named Annabelle Byer, the product of an affair Rabbit had way back when. In his typically crystalline prose, Updike describes how Janice sizes up the girl and her motives and how she mulls over lost time while scooting about town in her black LeBaron convertible. Janice's ex- cokehead son, Nelson, is now a 42 year old mental health counselor divorced from his wife and living at home. He takes a shine to his half sister that's both fraternal and not a little incestuous. Nothing much happens, but by the holidays, fragments of families are meeting up and falling apart and piecing themselves -- and thus Rabbit -- together again. Throughout, people take in the noise of the age: impeachment, ''American Beauty,'' the Y2K bug, the new VW bug.... And Updike seems particularly hung up on tongue studs. There are a dozen short stories in ''Licks of Love'' too; most are not just short but small, and they're all pointed in the same direction as the main event anyway -- toward past books and ancient desires. With his keen looks at (un)settling old scores, Updike has designed the glimmering ''Rabbit Remembered'' as a seductive news brief. It's a ghost story, to be sure, but each character is haunted by the present, and American life is all American gothic. It turns out that poor Harry Angstrom, a monument to the way our little lives are led, was a man in full after all.
Rating:
Summary: Lotsa Product ? Definitely Has Its Moments
Review: Let's face it - most folks will come to this book to get their Rabbit fix, so let's deal with that story first. We readers spent a lot of time in the four Rabbit books being exasperated, if not saddened, by Nelson, Rabbit's unfortunate, screwed-up son. Well, here, finally, Nelson comes into his own. He has hit his stride. We readers become - dare I say it? - downright proud of him. And how is Rabbit remembered? You need only observe his children, in whom he lives on. (Check out the last word and re-read the question it answers. Hmmm...) Also, you don't need to read the first four Rabbit books to enjoy or understand this story; it's satisfying on its own - cinema verite in book form. The other stories are not terribly memorable or compelling. Nevertheless they fit just like a comfortable old pair of shoes. One wonders if they might not be simply necessary, a chance for Updike to work through the late-arriving gremlins of his own memory. If you want to read only one or two of these stories, I'd recommend "Natural Color" very highly for its great insights and the title track, "Licks of Love in the Heart of the Cold War," as a better-than-average plot. Mr. Bech also makes an appearance ("His Oeuvre"), and the excerpts from his (Bech's) writings are as diverting to read as ever, as is the sad conclusion he makes at the end of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Lotsa Product ¿ Definitely Has Its Moments
Review: Let's face it - most folks will come to this book to get their Rabbit fix, so let's deal with that story first. We readers spent a lot of time in the four Rabbit books being exasperated, if not saddened, by Nelson, Rabbit's unfortunate, screwed-up son. Well, here, finally, Nelson comes into his own. He has hit his stride. We readers become - dare I say it? - downright proud of him. And how is Rabbit remembered? You need only observe his children, in whom he lives on. (Check out the last word and re-read the question it answers. Hmmm...) Also, you don't need to read the first four Rabbit books to enjoy or understand this story; it's satisfying on its own - cinema verite in book form. The other stories are not terribly memorable or compelling. Nevertheless they fit just like a comfortable old pair of shoes. One wonders if they might not be simply necessary, a chance for Updike to work through the late-arriving gremlins of his own memory. If you want to read only one or two of these stories, I'd recommend "Natural Color" very highly for its great insights and the title track, "Licks of Love in the Heart of the Cold War," as a better-than-average plot. Mr. Bech also makes an appearance ("His Oeuvre"), and the excerpts from his (Bech's) writings are as diverting to read as ever, as is the sad conclusion he makes at the end of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best; buy it anyway.
Review: Read the novella ("Rabbit Remembered") first; it's worth the price of the book all by itself. A very interesting fictional experiment -- a piece about the lingering influence of a man ten years dead on his family and acquaintances. I have read all the earlier Rabbit Angstrom novels (several times) and enjoyed this thoroughly; I'm not sure how much you will like it if you are not familiar with the earlier works. As to the other stories...well, bad Updike is better than most other authors' best efforts. These are not his best and are disappointing after his most recent short story collection (The Afterlife and Other Stories). If you're new to Updike don't start here -- but if you are already a fan there is much to enjoy. As usual the prose is flawless and delightful even though some of the characters are underdone and some of the stories structurally flawed -- a rarity in Updike's work.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best; buy it anyway.
Review: Read the novella ("Rabbit Remembered") first; it's worth the price of the book all by itself. A very interesting fictional experiment -- a piece about the lingering influence of a man ten years dead on his family and acquaintances. I have read all the earlier Rabbit Angstrom novels (several times) and enjoyed this thoroughly; I'm not sure how much you will like it if you are not familiar with the earlier works. As to the other stories...well, bad Updike is better than most other authors' best efforts. These are not his best and are disappointing after his most recent short story collection (The Afterlife and Other Stories). If you're new to Updike don't start here -- but if you are already a fan there is much to enjoy. As usual the prose is flawless and delightful even though some of the characters are underdone and some of the stories structurally flawed -- a rarity in Updike's work.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best; buy it anyway.
Review: Read the novella ("Rabbit Remembered") first; it's worth the price of the book all by itself. A very interesting fictional experiment -- a piece about the lingering influence of a man ten years dead on his family and acquaintances. I have read all the earlier Rabbit Angstrom novels (several times) and enjoyed this thoroughly; I'm not sure how much you will like it if you are not familiar with the earlier works. As to the other stories...well, bad Updike is better than most other authors' best efforts. These are not his best and are disappointing after his most recent short story collection (The Afterlife and Other Stories). If you're new to Updike don't start here -- but if you are already a fan there is much to enjoy. As usual the prose is flawless and delightful even though some of the characters are underdone and some of the stories structurally flawed -- a rarity in Updike's work.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Shortly after I read the four Rabbitt novels - recently; yeah, I'm a bit behind the times - I bought this to read the "sequel". While many of the stories in this book are excellent, the Rabbitt sequel should never have been published. It left a bad taste in the back of my mind, after having devoured all four "real" Rabbitt novels in just a few weeks. This sequel is trite, useless, and does not help the legacy of that poignant character. If you enjoyed the Rabbitt novels, don't feel that you need to read this.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Shortly after I read the four Rabbitt novels - recently; yeah, I'm a bit behind the times - I bought this to read the "sequel". While many of the stories in this book are excellent, the Rabbitt sequel should never have been published. It left a bad taste in the back of my mind, after having devoured all four "real" Rabbitt novels in just a few weeks. This sequel is trite, useless, and does not help the legacy of that poignant character. If you enjoyed the Rabbitt novels, don't feel that you need to read this.
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