Museums & Women and Other Stories

by John Updike

This is John Updike’s largest and most various collection of short stories. Some, such as the title story, have the tone and personality of essays; others objectify the chimeras of middle-class existence; a number of vignettes reflect the face of America in the fictional microcosm of Tarbox; the longest story, a hallucinatory trip up the Nile, allegorizes our foreign policy. In the second section of the collection, Updike tries on ten surreal modes and ornaments his texts with an array of stolen illustrations. Lastly, five stories portray the evolving, everlasting marriage of the Maples, an imaginary couple whose first appearance in The New Yorker dates back to 1956.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, American

282 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 1972

About the author

John Hoyer Updike was an American writer. Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest both won Pulitzer Prizes for Updike. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class," Updike is well known for his careful craftsmanship and prolific writing, having published 22 novels and more than a dozen short story collections as well as poetry, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems have appeared in The New Yorker since the 1950s. His works often explore sex, faith, and death, and their inter-relationships.

He died of lung cancer at age 76.

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short story "I Am Dying, Egypt, Dying" is exceptional. Also notable are "The Deacon" and "The Orphaned Swimming Pool". Interesting, too, that he has an "Other Modes" section for writings that aren't quite short stories, but are well worth reading (most of them comical); as well as his "The Maples" section for this period's thinly disguised autobiographical collection/musings on marriage. The collection, as a whole, is worth reading for Updike's insights and command of the language.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

While The Library of America’s complete Collected Stories has rendered John Updike’s individual short story collections pretty much redundant, it’s still interesting to see these twenty-nine pieces presented in this context. There are lots of stories set in good old Tarbox, MA, and five featuring the chronically adulterous Richard and Joan Maple (“Her irritability gratified him.”). Nearly all center around an alter-ego of the author (maybe not “I Am Dying, Egypt, Dying,” which is a first-rate highlight). As is often the case, I more or less just bear the couple of stories Updike must’ve written in his brainier moods.

[Gerard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though they seem difficult to start with, Updike's stories grow upon you and you realize them to be not just stories but finer impressions of life.

[Annelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories:

Museums & Women
The Day of the Dying Rabbit
The Witnesses
I Am Dying, Egypt, Dying
The Slump
During the Jurassic
The Baluchitherium
The Invention of the Horse Collar
The Taste of Metal

[Lily Spar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greatly enjoyed the orphaned swimming pool, the billies, and museums and women. Don’t think I’m a huge fan of his writing, but there were some very insightful moments.

“Life is that, a ball of dung we push along”

[d3wializm_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierwsza część wywołała we mnie skrajnie mieszane uczucia. Jedne opowiadania były nudne, niezrozumiałe, inne zaś pełne przekazów. Części "W innej tonacji" i "Państwo Maple" totalnie do mnie nie przemówiły, dlatego mam problem z oceną tej pozycji, ponieważ dając dwie gwiazdki nie doceniłabym atutów tej książki, ale trzy gwiazdki w moim odczuciu to odrobinę za dużo.

[Ritika Chaturvedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updike has a lyrical writing style that glides through like poetry. This book of short stories was my first Updike read & I am glad I picked it up. My two favourite stories from this collection that touched me are "Museums & Women" and "Solitaire". I absolutely loved the fact how he says such profound thing in just a few words & it leaves an impact on the reader. I am surely going to read more of Updike now! Loved it!

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like 'em when they're free entry, eh, lads?

[Cristian Sirb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am ajuns să mă repet: dacă nu-ți scrii la fel de bine prozele ca Updike, parcă mai decent ar fi să renunți.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

the stories in the first half are beautiful, american yearning and nostalgia. there are some INCREDIBLY bizarre ones in the middle which might be just a touch too experimental to fully land, but i respect him for trying. and the closing trio is solid.

[Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.50

[Jonathan Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of Updike's typically very-good short story collection, though unusual in its tripartite divisions with the first section being traditional stories, the second being experimental, and the third continuing his Maple stories about the married couple named Richard and Joan Maple. The latter continues to be quietly engrossing, basically being elliptical “scenes from a marriage” looking at their varying temperaments, relationships, and personalities with each other, through their children, friends, and in relationship with various social issues, like civil rights (Joan is gung-ho for it, Richard is more conservative and skeptical, but supportive of his wife). More than anything I love the ambiguity of tone Updike maintains, and his unusually restrained but elegant and very poised style allows for every minor change—whether wryness, poignancy, bitterness, irony, etc.—to register subtly, and the variety of such tonal nuances keep things interesting.

The “experimental” section is more hit than miss with me, though I can appreciate the originality of ideas, that ranges from a social get-together among dinosaurs, to a time-travelling interview with a baluchitherium (an extinct creature I’d never heard of; apparently it was the largest land mammal).

The stories in the first section may be the collection’s highlights: all of them are elegant and graceful snapshots of love (lost or gained), family, community, neighborhoods, and often memories. All of these stories seem to feel like the way memories feel when we remember them; nostalgic, without being sentimental. This passage from When Everyone Was Pregnant was especially striking, and emblematic of this section of the collection, if not Updike’s work in general: “I make these notes on the train. My hand shakes. My town slides by, the other comfortable small towns, the pastures and glimpses of sea. A single horse galloping. A golf course with a dawn foursome frozen on the green, dew-white. And then the lesser cities, the little one-hotel disgruntled cities, black walls hurled like fists at our windows, broken factory windows, a rusted drawbridge halted forever at almost-down, a gravel yard with bluestones pyramided by size, a dump smoldering, trash in all the colors of jewels; then the metropolis, the tracks multiplying as swiftly as products in a calculator, the hazed skyscrapers changing relationship to one another like the steeples in Proust, the tunnels of billboards, the station, vast and derelict; the final stop. This evening, the same thing backward.

“But never get bored with how the train slices straight, lightly rocking, through intersections of warning bells dinging, past playgrounds and back yards, warehouses built on a bias to fit the right-of-way. Like time: cuts through everything, keeps going.

“Notes not come to anything. Lives not come to anything. Life a common stock that fluctuates in value. But you cannot sell, you must hold, hold till it dips to nothing. The big boys sell you out.

“Edgar to blinded Gloucester: Ripeness is all. Have never exactly understood. Ripeness is all that is left? Or ripeness is all that matters? Encloses all, answers all, justifies all. Ripeness is God.

“Now: our babies drive cars, push pot, shave, menstruate, riot for peace, eat macrobiotic. Wonderful in many ways, but not ours, never ours, we see now. Now: we go to a party and see only enemies. All the shared years have made us wary, survival-conscious. Sarah looks away. Spokes of the wheel are missing. Our babies accuse us. Treated them like bonuses, flourishes added to our happiness.

“Did the Fifties exist? Voluptuous wallpaper. Crazy kid. Sickening sensation of love. The train slides forward. The decades slide seaward, taking us along. Still afraid. Still grateful.”

[Sharvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Museums and Women, Solitaire, Plumbing, and The Witnesses. The Maples stood out as well, as confounding and riveting stories/literary photographs. That's the thing I enjoyed most about the stories: they really felt like someone had taken a snapshot of a moment or a memory.

The Other Modes collection, on the other hand, was not as interesting as the initial intrigue it kindled. I found I had to really struggle to get through it.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories shows the full range of the Updike experience, from awe-inspiring to the truly terrible. But I'm sympathetic to Updike's inconsistency because when his prose is dialed in, he hits the highs like Hemingway or Fitzgerald. On balance he's one of the greats.

[Piotr Ferster · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Museums & Women" by John Updike is an enigmatic journey of eloquence, capturing moments of life in stunning prose. It receives a solid four stars from me, as it reveals the mastery of Updike's observational prowess, though at times, it could leave you wishing for a bit more connection.

This collection of short stories brings Updike's keen observations about life, love, and everything in between to the forefront. The stories take you through a kaleidoscope of emotions, grappling with the complexities of relationships, gender dynamics, familial ties, and personal introspection.

"Museums & Women," the titular story, is a potent narrative encapsulating the longing for understanding, the shifts in relationships, and the concept of museums serving as metaphors for women. This story left me contemplating long after I finished it, a testament to Updike's ability to weave a lingering narrative.

Updike's prose is, as always, exquisite. His ability to capture the essence of the mundane and elevate it to a piece of art is truly commendable. His precise descriptions and keen observations make each story a delicate slice of life.

However, while I admire Updike's mastery of the language and his eye for detail, I must admit that there were times when the stories felt a tad distant. There were moments where I craved more depth and emotional connection to the characters.

Moreover, the book can be dense in places, demanding careful attention from the reader to fully appreciate Updike's craft. This is not a drawback per se, but it does mean that the reader needs to commit to truly immersing themselves in Updike's world.

In conclusion, "Museums & Women" is an eloquent, introspective collection that paints vivid portraits of everyday life. Despite the occasional emotional distance, the brilliance of Updike's writing makes it a worthwhile read, and it remains a strong four-star contribution to the short story form.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRST LINE REVIEW: "Set together, the two words are seen to be mutually transparent; the e's, the m's blend -- the m's framing and squaring the structure lend resonance and a curious formal weight to the m central in the creature, which it dominates like a dark core winged with flitting syllables." Read that a few times. This is the opening line of Updike's short story "Museums and Women." An excellent example of his pure delight in experimenting with language. But this collection, while still peppered with experiments, also stabs more painfully into highly detailed depictions of reality...particularly the infidelity's that were part of his personal life at the time these were being written. They're scalpel sharp, exposing the tumors that can destroy relationships.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ended up being about 60% enjoyable overall. It's a short-works collection, but most of the ones that are normal Updike suburban relationship stuff work well. It might be a good idea to read this over the course of a few months, a story once in a while. They run together, though the writing is great. I love his tone. He manages to captivate even when every other story has no plot, and the way he writes about people is refreshing. One of the big weak points is a series of pieces in which he substitutes various animals for human characters, like a party full of sea creatures, the largest of which is a shrimp. Then they start eating each other. Yeeeah

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories by John Updike were full of what you would expect from him - sex, adultry, wry humor and the tennis-playing upper crust. Some stories were better than others but all were worth reading. The ones that seemed the most typical Updike were the four in the final section "The Maples."

[Josh Ort · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories really are about museums and women. Really great insightful humanistic writing, good mature Updike - heart to describe, like a flavor. The Maples series at the end is heartbreaking. Good for dipping into some Updike without delving into Rabbit.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved: Plumbing; The Sea's Green Sameness
Really liked: the third part The Maples.
Liked most of the rest of it; skipped some of the second part.

[Reformed Rhetoric · Rating 3 out of 5]

read "The Deacon" very good; I will update after reading more of the stories...