Harry Angstrom in John Updike’s quartet of Rabbit novels (1960-90)Read about the other entries on the list.
While not perhaps a churchgoing Protestant himself – “without a little of it, you’ll sink” is his verdict on religion – “Rabbit” Angstrom is a peerless observer of guilt-ridden, hypocritical Protestant middle America, caught between an instinctive self-righteousness and the appeal of the strip joint in the shopping mall. But his creator, John Updike, was a Protestant to his bones, first a Lutheran, then a Congregationalist and finally an Episcopalian (Anglican). Likening Ronald Reagan to God, Updike once remarked: “You never know how much he knows, everything or nothing.”
Updike's Rabbit books figure among Eliza Kennedy's top ten merry adulterers in literature, Sue Townsend's six best books, Julian Barnes's best books to travel with, William Sutcliffe's top ten relationship novels, and Aifric Campbell's top ten list of favorite jobs in fiction.
--Marshal Zeringue
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