"The three essential John Updike novels collected here--the scandalous Couples, the second Rabbit book, Rabbit Redux, and the uproarious A month of Sundays--form an indelible triptych of the social upheaval that roiled America from the Kennedy to the Nixon years. Written with the grace, verve and style of one of American literature's most beguiling entertainers, these books reveal Updike's genius in characterization, his formal versatility as a novelist, and his surprising audacity. They delve into the complexities of sex and marriage, social class and personal morality, and the difficult quandaries of the flesh and the spirit. As a special feature the volume also presents two short pieces that shed light on the novels and the tale "Couples: A Short Story," the origin of the novel of the same name, written in 1963 but deemed unsuitable for publication by The New Yorker."--