Synopsis
Couples is the erotic 1968 novel by John Updike which focuses on a liberated, promiscuous circle of 10 married friends in the fictional Boston suburb of Tarbox in Massachusetts. Much of the novel (which takes place from the spring of 1963 until the spring of 1964) concerns the efforts of its characters to balance the pressures of Protestant sexual mores against increasingly flexible American attitudes toward sex, swinging and group-sex in the 1960s. The book suggests that this relaxation may have been driven by the development of birth control and the opportunity to enjoy what one character refers to as "the post-pill paradise." The circle of acquaintance is felt as a magic circle, with ritual games, religious substitutes, a priest, and a scapegoat. Its publication created a mild scandal and elicited a cover story in TIME magazine. Couples is the book that has been called " an intellectual Peyton Place." It has been assailed for its complete frankness and praised as an artful, seductive, savagely graphic portrait of love, marriage, and adultery in America. Updike captures the narcissism and wild exhibitionism of the era, when children are left to wander around howling and lonely and neurotic about death as their parents sneak in and out of each other's bedrooms. The incidents of wife-swapping are a nice blend of Noel Coward and Krafft-Ebing. Kennedy reigns triumphant and dies symbolically. The sex scenes are candid, explicit and highly erotic but not embarrassing and rank among the best written about group sex and swinging.
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The provocative novel about sex in suburbia, striking in its complete sexual frankness and rightly praised as an artful, seductive, savagely graphic portrayal of love, marriage and adultery in America.
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Couples
Published by
Random House Publishing Group, 1981
ISBN 10: 0449240231
ISBN 13: 9780449240236
Used
Softcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 17948212-6
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Couples
Seller: Once Upon A Time Books, Siloam Springs, AR, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
mass_market. Condition: Acceptable. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear . It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear . It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. Seller Inventory # mon0003416118