John Updike, Of the Farm

Laurence Mazzeno (Alvernia College)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1965

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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John Updike’s fourth novel,

Of the Farm

, was published in 1965. Like much of his earlier work, it is based on Updike’s personal experiences growing up in eastern Pennsylvania. Narrated by thirty-five-year-old Joey Robinson, the story takes place over a weekend in August (the year is not specified but one can easily infer that it is in the early 1960s). Robinson, a public relations executive working in New York, brings his second wife, Peggy, and her eleven-year-old son Richard, to his family farm in eastern Pennsylvania. His mother, Mary, is living alone on the farm, her husband having died a year earlier. Once able to manage the farm with the help of her husband, Mary must now rely on neighbors to accomplish a number of chores. On this weekend, Joey has come home to help her mow…

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2322 words

Citation: Mazzeno, Laurence. "Of the Farm". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 April 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3162, accessed 02 May 2025.]

John Updike, Of the Farm

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