Month of Sundays (Paperback)

by John Updike (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A Tour De Force."

-- Chicago Tribune Book World



"The funniest book that anyone is likely to read in, well, a month of Sundays...An excellent novel...Updike is dazzling in his wordplay."

-- The Cleveland Press

"Updike is playful, witty, ironic, ever-fresh, ever-provocative, and ever so ever erotic....A Month of Sundays is both poignant and very funny...One of America's most original, most subtle, and most engaging writers."

-- The Boston Globe

"A flawless and utterly compelling work. His wit, intelligent sympathy, and unequaled command of the potentialities of the language for expressing and revealing have never had a better union....One of Updike's finest achievements."

-- The Charlotte Observer -- Review

Review
"A Tour De Force."

-- Chicago Tribune Book World



"The funniest book that anyone is likely to read in, well, a month of Sundays...An excellent novel...Updike is dazzling in his wordplay."

-- The Cleveland Press

"Updike is playful, witty, ironic, ever-fresh, ever-provocative, and ever so ever erotic....A Month of Sundays is both poignant and very funny...One of America's most original, most subtle, and most engaging writers."

-- The Boston Globe

"A flawless and utterly compelling work. His wit, intelligent sympathy, and unequaled command of the potentialities of the language for expressing and revealing have never had a better union....One of Updike's finest achievements."

-- The Charlotte Observer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (August 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449912205
• ISBN-13: 978-0449912201
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #582,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Uncomfortablely Honest Look @ Sexuality and Religion, March 17, 2001

By	Tron Honto - See all my reviews

I found this book absolutely amazing. Though the Rev. Tom Marshfield is utterly despisable, he is also completely endearing. The prose is masterfully written. I only found it difficult during the first 3 pages. Updikes knowledge of theology impressed me, as well as his indepth treatment of the subject. Updikes juxtapositioning of sex (seen usually as profane) and theology gives this novel its unique edge. Highly recommended reading for anyone who has dared to ask the hard questions of religion and to search them out, and has suffered morally and spiritually as a result.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious celebration of pagan flesh and baffled spirit, September 9, 2005

By	Steven Reynolds (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When the Reverend Thomas Marshall is busted for philandering with more than one of his buxom parishoners, he's dispatched by his bishop to a desert sanitorium for forty days of reflection, recuperation and golf. His carer, Ms Prynne, suggests he write as a form of therapy and this novel consists of Marshall's morning writing exercises and four sermons which he writes on Sundays. He recounts his recent past, the infidelities which led him here, reflecting on the joys of the flesh and the agonies of the spirit. In so doing, he also embarks on a cunning seduction of Ms Prynne... This is a wonderfully clever comic novel. It's rich with layers of symbolism and Biblical references - the Omega-shaped sanitorium, the forty days and nights in the desert - and bubbles along with puns, comic typographical errors, plus arch footnotes and endless wisecracks. It's beautifully plotted, impeccably structured, and like most of Updike's work, it's laugh-out-loud funny but utterly serious in its intent. It's an exploration of the nature and challenges of religious faith in contemporary America. The "sermons" are spectacular examples of the way we can reason the Bible into meaning anything - we can even turn adultery into the purpose of marriage and the key to fulfilling one's human destiny. Updike's control of language is astonishing - some reviewers find it confounding but they lack the patience to read this book slowly, to savour it like a seduction, to enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed. When you look back, you realize how meticulously crafted it's all been, and you're dazzled not only by that craftsmanship but also by how lightly it wears the weight. Updike's touch is deft, subtle and most of all incredibly funny.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Book from a Much Better Writer..., September 25, 2006

By	C. Mendoza-tolentino "CMT" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those of you who have come to admire Updike's work, especially from the Rabbit Series, this novel will come as a disappointment. The story of Reverend Tom Marshfield whose sexual escapades with his parishioners causes many problems and eventully lands him in a place to be rehabilitated so that he can return to his church revitalized and purged of his wanton desires leaves much to be desired.

I had many problems getting into the novel - Updike seems to preoccupied with trying to establish Tom as a very astute and observant character with many insights into religion and life. Like with many novels that try to create unique and interesting perspectives, I found the text a little dull with nothing to entertain. If I wanted a diatribe on different subjects, I would buy a collection of essays. I found that Updike fails to have us really care or empathize with Tom's perspective (something Coetzee does marvelously in a similar novel Elizabeth Costello) so any rant he goes on comes off as unwanted. The middle of the text is where things pick up, when we finally find out what series of events leads to Tom being in the position he is in. For awhile, I couldn't put the book down as I raced through scenes of Tom coming to grips with his desires and needs, only to find the end of the novel return to the plodding pace that made the beginning so dull.

Stylistically , Updike is a writing master, as his prose is clear and succinct. It's a pleasure to read the way he constructs sentences. It's a shame that it's wasted on this somewhat problematic story.