John Updike Books in Order

How many John Updike books are there?

John Updike has 83 books, released between 1958 and 2020. 9 of them were published after John Updike's death in 2009. They include 6 series and 64 titles listed outside any series.

John Updike Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 83 John Updike books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

John Updike books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Do you have to read John Updike books in order?

You only need to read John Updike books in order within each series: the books listed here span 6 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with John Updike

Start with The Poorhouse Fair (1958), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Updike book?

Hoping for a Hoopoe (2020) is the newest John Updike book released so far.

Is there a new John Updike book coming?

No next John Updike book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards John Updike has won

Wikidata records 18 awards and 8 nominations for John Updike. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

• Rea Award for the Short Story2006Won
• Carl Sandburg Literary Award2005Won
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction2004Wonfor The Early Stories: 1953–1975
• National Book Award1998Won
• William Dean Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters1995Won
• Prix Laure Bataillon1994Won
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction1991Wonfor Rabbit at Rest
• National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction1990Wonfor Rabbit at Rest
• Amateur Cartoonist Extraordinary Award1990Won
• PEN/Malamud Award1988Won
• St. Louis Literary Award1987Won
• Helmerich Award1987Won

John Updike at a glance

Died

John Updike died in 2009, according to Wikidata.

After death

Books credited to John Updike are still being published after John Updike's death in 2009; the newest appeared in 2020.

Release pace

John Updike books have appeared about one a year on average.

Length

21,042 pages across the 70 of 83 books with a recorded length, a median of 264 pages each.

Busiest decade

Most John Updike books, 16 of 83, were published in the 1980s.

What the John Updike books are about

72 of the 83 John Updike books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: short stories is tagged on 9 of 72. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

• Short stories 9 of 72 books
• Poetry 8 of 72 books
• Social life and customs 8 of 72 books
• History and criticism 7 of 72 books
• Harry Angstrom (Fictitious character) 6 of 72 books
• Manners and customs 6 of 72 books
• Adultery 5 of 72 books
• Marriage 5 of 72 books
• Middle class men 5 of 72 books
• Modern Literature 5 of 72 books