HTML in Easy Steps

HTML in Easy Steps
by Mike McGrath
2003 • Barnes & Noble Books
192 pages / ISBN 0760747792 (paperback)

To design web pages, computer users must know the code: HTML. HyperText Markup Language, invented by British researcher Tim Berners-Lee in the late 1980s, has become the staple binding together our free exchange of information on the Web, such as through the page you are reading now.

There are plenty of comprehensive HTML guides in existence that can help amateurs to design their first web pages. This menu includes Mike McGrath's HTML in Easy Steps, an installment of the full-color In Easy Steps series originally published in England by Computer Step. McGrath, who has authored several titles in the series, here provides an overview of HTML 4 with full use of CSS (cascading style sheets) notation.

HTML in Easy Steps divides HTML skills into 15 chapters running anywhere from 7 to 19 pages each on a specific area of markup language. Each chapter starts with a brief, one-paragraph description of its objective and devotes each page to an individual markup technique. McGrath explains the technique's place in HTML 4 and lists in distinct type how the function should be codified. Each coding example is illustrated by a detailed screen capture or diagram.

Emphasizing CSS notation, HTML in Easy Steps uses simple English and repetition in ways that help to build computer skills. Readers should begin feeling capable of building the most rudimentary web pages, with the book serving as an excellent hands-on reference. It can also become a helpful supplement for students or office members who perform infrequent web maintenance.

Space limitations may have prevented McGrath from adding helpful features like quizzes or a book-ending 'final project' that brings together all of the skills we have encountered. There are also no cheat sheets to speak of, but the book is organized well enough to serve as a quick look-up guide in its own right. An additional download of all coding examples can be obtained from its publisher's website, free of charge.

Basic, well-organized, and inexpensive, McGrath's book is a good starting point for newcomers (even with HTML's advance to version 5) and a useful brush-up for those who are stepping back into web design after an absence. Retailed in the U.S. by Barnes & Noble Books, HTML in Easy Steps is available in occasional back copy on the Internet and there are probably a few copies still floating around in libraries and store bargain bins.

The Fourth Plague

The Fourth Plague
by Edgar Wallace
1913 (reprinted 1930) • Doubleday, Doran & Company
303 pages (hardcover)

Trouble is brewing at the home of Sir Ralph Morte-Mannery, a judge in the English court system. A working-class Englishman, George Mansingham, has been given a conveniently harsh sentence by Sir Ralph after breaking into his house during the night. Mansingham claims that he was not breaking in to steal, but to receive an envelope from a strange man who would appear inside. After the case draws notice in the press, an Italian crime investigator visits the Morte-Mannery estate, suggesting that the burglary was a lot more than simple theft.

If you've ever seen King King, you've already experienced the work of Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace, a London journalist who authored some 175 novels, many of which were best-sellers. Though Wallace is usually known for his gorilla in a screenplay that he never actually completed, he was far more accomplished as a crime writer and occasional playwright. So popular was Wallace in his home country during the 1920s that it was said one-fourth of the books read in England were of his authorship. His dark, suspenseful, and emotional works have also been translated into many languages and proved a reliable source for film and television, particularly in Italy and Germany.

The Fourth Plague is an intriguing crime novel that was published in 1913, during the early years of Wallace's career as a novelist. A tight 303 pages in its 1930 Doubleday printing, The Fourth Plague begins with a prologue set in Italy and follows with 19 numbered chapters taking place in England. Plague is a strange combination of police procedural and spy thriller, with the Morte-Mannerys' situation taking on much larger importance as the story unfolds. The themes seem to reflect growing social concerns at the outbreak of World War I, though they are never examined in detail. The prevailing tone is somber, with its atmosphere lightened by moments of wry humor.

On the whole, The Fourth Plague is a serviceable novel with intricate plotting and plenty of things going on. The story is told in third-person omniscient, which allows for much greater character development than first-person crime, such as the Marlowe novels of Raymond Chandler. All of the main characters and even a few of the supporting cast are painted in detail, helping us to empathize with their plights and appreciate their feelings.

Wallace injects the characters with a mature balance of good and bad qualities, making neither the hero totally admirable nor the villain completely repugnant. The English settings, while often isolated, are vivid and Wallace is at his best when describing action at night. The familiar, post-Victorian style common in Lawrence, Forster, and Maugham can be found here with an added briskness helped by Wallace's time as a reporter.

Oddly enough, the novel does not maintain a level of suspense that readers would expect. In using a third-person narrative, Wallace is forced at key moments to hide information from the reader that would otherwise diffuse the tension of a given scene. While holding back on certain details to keep readers in the dark, we can often tell that information is being hidden and it makes the narrative look flimsy.

Wallace also does a poor job of masking characters until the point of when they need to be revealed. Though the revelations might come later than we expect or in a different form, they can often be figured out from miles away. While it is possible that Wallace chose to have fun with readers and make the guesswork easy, it is hard to figure out from his stern prose if that teasing was meant. In fairness, the ending does not have this problem at all; it is highly dramatic, overblown in a likeable way, and completely unexpected.

As with most crime novels, The Fourth Plague can't be taken as high literature. There is something very comforting in Wallace, an author who rolled out his crime stories in a dignified manner with all loose ends neatly tied up. We are willing to excuse those flaws of his genre, such as events that happen a bit too conveniently for the plot's sake and a hero who inspires fear in all of his enemies but is only one person whom could easily be killed off...

There is no use trying to poke holes in the legacy of Edgar Wallace, since we are reading a crime author and not works by Lawrence or Maugham. Wallace is engaging, knows his business, and can tell an entertaining story - which is exactly what we're looking for when reading him. Ironically, Wallace is known nowadays through the film and TV adaptations of his work rather than the novels themselves, but he is certainly worth hunting down if you're into crime or espionage.

I found my copy of The Fourth Plague in a Barnes & Noble sale annex. It is a hardcover edition released in 1930 by Doubleday, Doran & Company as part of the Crime Club series of novels. More recently, Plague has been marketed by House of Stratus in a 2008 softcover volume. Copies from several publishers can be found on the Internet and through used book stores specializing in crime fiction.

The War Wagon

The War Wagon
* * ½ out of 4

- 1967 • released by Universal Pictures
- directed by Burt Kennedy
- written by Clair Huffaker (after his novel Badman)
- starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas
- 101 minutes

The personal sentiments of John Wayne and Kirk Douglas were often light years apart. Both socially and politically, these two veteran stars were of different mindsets and caused on-set tension more than once. Yet in a professional case of opposites attracting, Wayne and Douglas worked together – and often exceptionally well – on three motion pictures in the late 1960s.

Their last project was 1967's The War Wagon, a tongue-in-cheek Western financed by Wayne's Batjac Productions company. Made at the tail-end of American cinema's great Western era, The War Wagon combines action and dark comedy in what is very much an homage to the grand tradition that Wayne, in particular, was an integral part of.

Wayne, in his 162nd film appearance, plays Taw Jackson, a New Mexico rancher who has been released from prison after serving three years of his term. Jackson is seeking revenge against Pierce (Bruce Cabot), a mining company owner who stole his land and sent him behind bars on false charges. He aims to hijack Pierce's notorious War Wagon, a steel-lined coach that is used to transport precious metals.

Aware that a half-million dollars' worth of gold will be shipped in the coming days, Jackson brings together some assistants. He hires a dependable gunman (Lomax, played by Douglas), a drunk explosives expert (Billy Hyatt, Robert Walker Jr. of The Ceremony), a paranoid horse driver (Wes Fletcher, Keenan Wynn of Shoot, Gringo...Shoot!), and an Indian who has assimilated to the White ways of doing business (Levi Walking Bear, Dallas regular Howard Keel).

The War Wagon offers a few engaging subplots, including the absence of loyalty from Lomax, who already shot Taw years earlier and has been offered a fair sum by Pierce to finish the job. Character actress Velora Noland plays Fletcher's young, bartered wife who is trapped in her relationship and confides in Hyatt, a man closer in age. The supporting cast is dotted with Hollywood veterans, including Joanna Barnes, Bruce Dern, and Gene Evans.

With a cast of Wayne, Douglas, and familiar support, it is inevitable that The War Wagon entertains. The film seems to wink at campy Westerns of previous decades and never takes itself seriously. Clair Huffaker's screenplay (adapted from his novel Badman) uses a taut storyline and keeps us guessing at what happens next. The characters in Taw Jackson's entourage, never really fleshed out by Huffaker's writing, are still an amusing group who don't like each other but must rely on one another to stay alive.

Burt Kennedy's direction is reliable, moving the film at a steady pace. The action scenes are sure-handled and Kennedy (who also directed Wayne's The Train Robbers) makes good use of the rugged country in Durango for bands of horsemen and scenes involving Indian tribes who are being driven off the land. The direction is complemented by gritty cinematography from William Clothier (The Comancheros, Stagecoach) and a rousing score by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Released in 1967, The War Wagon came very late in the game for traditional Westerns; it was around the time that new frontiers were being crossed by directors like Sergio Leone. The War Wagon is aimed at fans of old-time Western stories and doesn't concern itself with a mastery of cinema. There are more than enough clichés and plot gaps to go around and Wayne is making his umpteenth reprise as his old Western self. However, it is impossible not to like the historic combination of Wayne and Douglas, who are almost synonymous with the prairie.

For Western fans, The War Wagon is one of those essentials that should not be missed. Universal Studios has made two releases of the film on DVD, although there is reportedly no difference between them. The more recent was a 2003 disc that is part of the 'Universal Western Collection.' The War Wagon is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen with language options of English, Spanish, and French in Dolby 2.0 mono. Subtitles are provided in English and Spanish only.

Universal's DVD treatment of the film is minimal. Visually, The War Wagon appears to have been transferred from a studio print without cleanup. There are small artifacts throughout the running time and grain, though not overtly noticeable, can be seen on lighter tones. Sound, including dialogue and effects, is generally clear and Dimitri Tiomkin's score is given due recognition in the speakers. The only extras are the theatrical trailer, notes on the production, and written bios of Wayne, Douglas, and Burt Kennedy. Universal's presentation is rather lean, but as one of the actors' lesser films, it will have to do for now.

Philosophy for Beginners

Philosophy for Beginners
by Richard Osborne, illustrated by Ralph Edney
1992 • Writers and Readers Publishing
192 pages / ISBN 086316157X (paperback)

Students and those with interests in the humanities may be well aware of the Writers and Readers series that has filled bookshelves over the past four decades. This best-selling educational series comes from an unlikely source in Glenn Thompson, a Harlem-born publisher who overcame an unstable childhood and illiteracy that lasted until the age of twelve. Mostly self-taught as a reader and writer, Thompson devoted his life to promoting education in low-income areas and encouraging the young through his publishing labels.

After worldwide travel and involvement with social programs during the 1960s, Thompson opened a bookstore and publishing cooperative in the Hackney section of London before working at Penguin Books. The Writers and Readers series began just after Thompson left Penguin and aimed to give the public a basic understanding of complex academic topics. The series, another of his collective projects, has been a major success and is still in circulation under the For Beginners imprint of Danbury, Connecticut.

Students (including myself) have often turned to the Writers and Readers series whenever beginning a topic they are unfamiliar with. Writers and Readers' success lies in showing topics as well as explaining them. The series is a comprehensive, often light-hearted review of historical, sociological, and scientific areas that combines mature synopses with cartoons and illustrations. Each volume gives a complete, sure-handed overview of the topic and aims to build the reader's interest.

While you can't expect to learn everything about philosophy from Writers and Readers' Philosophy for Beginners, this volume does equip you with a basic timeline of western philosophical history. The study plan is laid out by Richard Osborne, an experienced philosophy writer who now teaches at the University of the Arts in London. Accompanying him throughout is the drawing pen of Ralph Edney, whose background includes political cartoons and work in mathematics.

Philosophy for Beginners deals with the main issues of philosophy - namely, why philosophy is important to the Western World and why ordinary people should care about it. Osborne covers some 2,500 years of philosophical thought and draws connections between theory and practice. He makes important links between great thinkers and western history, confirming that philosophy has been a motivating force in social development, politics, war, and religion.

Osborne's survey begins with ancient Greece, particularly the work of Thales in 580s BC. We are treated to familiar Greek names like Aristotle, Plato, Democritus, Socrates, and Heraclitus, who supplied prototypes for later philosophical inquiry. After the limited achievements of Rome, the book hustles through medieval scholasticism, Renaissance figures such as Machiavelli, Bacon, and Hobbes, and the Enlightenment world of Locke, Voltaire, and Kant.

It is from the nineteenth century onward, following the rise of Darwinism, Marxism, and nihilism, when Osborne's text gets sticky. As Man's view of himself and Woman's view of herself considerably shifted, philosophical thought became more diverse and often more convoluted. Osborne, however, continuously gives an update on where we stand along the philosophical timeline. Edney's drawings also give a shoulder-poke on how complicated matters are becoming via Marx, Nietzsche, Bergson, Wittgenstein, and Sartre.

Osborne's descriptive history is complemented by Edney's smile-inducing cartoons. Every page is filled with illustrations and truly alive. Edney often includes philosophical and historical figures from different eras in the same cartoon, as if we're in a humanities romper room. The cartoons also help to illustrate logic and philosophical systems instead of leaving us to grapple with words.

Philosophy for Beginners is a great resource, though it doesn't look 100% professional. One unfortunate problem is that the text wasn't proofread enough. Names are sometimes misspelled, punctuation is overlooked, and sentences become long-winded as Osborne explains the finer points. While typos and run-ons can be annoying, none of this hurts the overall attractiveness of the book. These flaws are comparatively minor and there is plenty of good information waiting to be read.

Anyone wanting to learn a new subject should consider the For Beginners series or 'Writers and Readers series' as the books appeared in earlier printings. The books can be easily found at stores, libraries, and on the Web in new and used copies. Philosophy for Beginners in its 1992 printing was volume 48 of the Writers and Readers series. Its 2007 printing in the For Beginners series is volume 29; both versions are 192 pages.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
translated by Jessie L. Weston
1909 (reprinted 2003) • Dover Publications
53 pages / ISBN 0486431916 (paperback)

Medieval legend still wields power over the modern-day imagination. If this weren't the case, J. K. Rowling wouldn't be a successful author through her Harry Potter series and the John Boorman-directed film Excalibur would lack the cult following it nowadays enjoys. The sinister, enveloping mysticism and 'black and white' sense of value in medieval tales continue to fascinate us, especially through views of the world that seem untouched by materialism and political correctness. But are the original stories themselves read very much? In truth, they aren't, but for a tiny minority.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of few medieval romances that still boast a large readership, particularly amongst students, medieval enthusiasts, and lovers of ancient poetry. The story of Gawain's journey to uphold his pact with the greenly giant remains iconic of the period in both its medieval 'quest' and depiction of King Arthur and his court, who are a known entity in pop culture. Gawain is still attractive in its mystical atmosphere and unflinching sense of truth, which is very hard to come by in our age.

As a purely literary work, the poem has its tense and touching moments, at least in the one manuscript by an unknown author that was brought down to us. This manuscript rests in the British Museum and is known as Cotton Nero A. X. - so named for a bookcase in the home of collector Sir Robert Cotton that housed a bust of the Roman dictator. The MS appears to be in Lancashire dialect and includes religious poems called Pearl, Purity, and Patience, all by the same writer. It is dated at the end of the fourteenth century but might have been copied from an earlier source.

The original MS is physically kept under lock and key while its obsolete form of English appears cryptic to us. How Gawain reaches the public is decided by scholars who choose a particular style and approach for translation. Translations of Gawain have been influenced by the critical positions of scholars and their familiarity with alternates of the myth from places such as Ireland and France. Decoding the story from an ancient dialect of English - one of many in an unstandardized era of language - has been vital in knocking down walls to understanding.

In the late 1890s, Jesse Laidlay Weston, one of the foremost medieval scholars of her era, wrote a translation of Gawain that kept popular readership in mind. Weston, who was living in Bournemouth, published Gawain in prose form while trying to maintain the original author's spirit of verse. Although Weston's unique approach has varying results, it does accomplish its main goal in bringing Gawain to everyone.

The original Gawain poem runs over 2,500 lines with stanzas of varying length. Each stanza does not use end-rhyme but alliteration until the five finishing lines, which rhyme in 'bob and wheel' manner. Aiming to translate for the general public, Weston converts the Gawain romance into a prose narrative that maintains a pseudo-antique style of language. Weston uses a different turn of phrase than the original text and omits small passages that she felt add nothing to the story's plotline. The latter includes castle architecture lacking in identification and the disembowelment of animals after a hunt.

Weston's unusual translation has its advantages. The retelling is easy to follow while keeping its overall spirit of medievalism. While the poem itself is uneven and often lacking in dramatic impact, Weston preserves moments when drama is brought off. She is one of the foremost interpreters of medieval texts, having been admired by intellectuals such as T. S. Eliot and Roger Sherman Loomis, and is more than up to the task of giving prose an ancient flavor.

It goes without saying, however, that the absence of Gawain in its original meter is disappointing. Many verse translations now exist, such as those by Burton Raffel and J. R. R. Tolkien, which confirm that Gawain is adaptable to modern English without undoing the beauty of its lines. Weston preserves the alliteration that is so frequent in Gawain's original form, but the 'bob and wheel' rhyming scheme has been completely removed. Perhaps Weston was trying too hard in supplying a medieval tale to the public, although she can't be faulted for it. The original text and alternate stories are easy to obtain if a reader becomes interested enough.

The last time I read a book of this type was a watered-down version of the Greek and Latin epics in high school. I absolutely hated that book and am amazed that I still want to read after setting eyes on it. Not so with this book; though unusual in its method, Weston's retelling is an easygoing story that leaves you wanting more, perhaps even the poem itself. It might just be the type of reaction that Weston was looking for.

Weston's translation, originally published in 1898, has been released as a low-priced softcover from Dover Publications, retaining all of its text from a 1909 revised printing by Charles Scribner's Sons. The new edition is 53 pages long, including Weston's 11 notes that explain ambiguities in the translation and original manuscript. It should be noted that chapter illustrations by M. M. Crawford were not retained from the Scribner's volume.

The Dover edition of Sir Gawain was first published in 2003 and is retailed at $3.95. It can be found on Dover racks at bookstores and in various spots on the Internet. While not suited to medievalists and those with experience in reading medieval texts, it is suggested for newcomers to the Round Table legends and general fantasy readers. The original text and similar translations are easily found at bookstores, libraries, and poetry web sites.

The Asphalt Jungle

The Asphalt Jungle
* * * out of 4

- 1950 • released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- directed by John Huston
- written by Huston and Ben Maddow (after the novel by W.R. Burnett)
- starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, and Sam Jaffe
- 112 minutes

To gain a full appreciation of film noir, you'll have to see The Asphalt Jungle at least once. The John Huston-directed thriller is considered an archetype of the hard-boiled crime genre and has been imitated several times, including as a western.

The Asphalt Jungle was made in the thick of Hollywood's Production Code, which placed firm limits on content. Considering the restrictions that Huston and co-writer Ben Maddow had to deal with, Jungle is eye-catching in how it moves against the grain of crime films from its era. Huston and Maddow wrote a faithful adaptation of W.R. Burnett's bestselling novel that treats its criminals with an unusual sensitivity as they try to restore order in their confused lives.

Jungle centers on a gem heist plotted by 'Doc' Erwin Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe), an aging German crook who has been released from prison. Riedenschneider, who is itching to make one final score and ease into retirement, has spent his days in jail planning out a robbery that would net thousands of dollars for himself and his cohorts. In the film's unnamed city (allusions are made to Cincinnati), he gains help from Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden), a heavy who is wanted by police and lives with his friend Doll Conovan (Jean Hagen); Gus Minissi (James Whitmore), a hunchbacked restaurant owner who covers for Dix; and Louis Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso), a locksmith who has a knack for cracking safes.

Riedenschneider is a meticulous schemer who seems to have everything in place to become a rich man. But he and his colleagues reveal their fatal flaws as matters develop. Riedenschneider, for instance, will forget everything when he sees a good-looking woman and Dix is crazed by his family's loss of their Kentucky horse breeding farm. The story further intertwines with Alonzo Emmerich (Louis Calhern), a once-wealthy businessman who becomes an intermediary for selling off the gems. Marilyn Monroe gives an early career appearance as Angela Phinlay, Emmerich's lover who is cohabiting with his sick wife May (Dorothy Tree). John McIntire (as the police commissioner), Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Teresa Celli (as Louis's wife), and Brad Dexter fill supporting roles in a large cast.

Dix and Doll gradually become the focal characters of Jungle as the Kentuckian tries to correct past mistakes and buy his family's farm that was lost years ago. At 6' 5", Sterling Hayden is a physically dominating man on screen yet softened by Dix's feelings of misgiving. Jean Hagen, who later cemented her reputation in Singin' in the Rain, is perhaps the most effective and sympathetic character of all; as a true friend, she supports Dix every step of the way while her affection is mostly ignored.

Huston, as he so often achieved in fifty years of directing, gets strong performances from most of his cast. The leads, especially Hayden, Hagen, Jaffe, and Calhern, give sincere efforts and heighten the story's drama. Nearly two hours long, Jungle moves at a steady pace, devoting the first 45 minutes to Doc's planning of the heist and the last hour to its aftermath. There are simply too many characters for them to be developed thoroughly, but Huston and Maddow succeed in giving them depth on screen. The film's ending is satisfying, if fairly predictable under Production Code restraints.

Jungle, with its progressive script and very good performances, was nominated for four Oscars, including Jaffe for best actor and Huston for best director. It's nowadays regarded as a classic in film circles, although there are detractors, including myself. While above average for its time, much of the dialogue is clichéd and many of the conventions are all too familiar for its era. What gives Jungle added life is its take on the criminal psyche, which was usually a subject of malign in Hollywood. Huston and Maddow succeed in making the felons sympathetic by relating to their inner conflicts.

The Asphalt Jungle has received an acceptable DVD release as part of a five-disc, boxed set from Warner Bros. and Turner Entertainment. Film Noir Classic Collection, which includes Murder, My Sweet and Gun Crazy, offers Jungle with a short introductory clip of Huston; a commentary track with film scholar Dr. Drew Casper and excerpts of an interview with James Whitmore; and the theatrical trailer. French dubbing is included with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

Jungle is well-presented visually and soundwise. The transfer keeps a sharp contrast between light and dark shades, which helps to preserve the look that is so important in noir films. Sound is fully balanced with clear dialogue and distinct sound effects.

Drew Casper, who holds the Hitchcock film chair at USC, gives a commentary that is informative but top-heavy on facts we'd get from an encyclopedia or a Google search. Casper devotes much time to discussing Huston, MGM (particularly Louis B. Mayer's fall from grace), and film noir as a style, which is helpful but overlooks what is happening on screen. He also tends to get wound up on certain elements of the film that I, at least, don't find quite as impressive. The disc jacket plugs his commentary 'with co-star James Whitmore,' but the track only excerpts an older interview of Whitmore at appropriate points.

Though not a perfect film and its disc presentation could've been a little more rounded, the Warner/Turner release of Jungle is certainly worth hunting down. Self-proclaimed 'experts' of film noir shouldn't be caught dead without having seen it and the film is likely to entertain anyone with an interest in crime.

Rabbit, Run

Rabbit, Run
by John Updike
1960 (reprinted 1993) • Fawcett Crest
284 pages / ISBN 0449205061 (paperback)

John Updike, at least in the opinion of his fans, made constructive use of a Guggenheim fellowship by writing Rabbit, Run, which grew into a four-novel series chronicling the life of an average American man. The series, much like Rabbit Angstrom, ran away with itself and became a landmark of the twentieth-century American novel. By the time of his death in 2009, Updike's Rabbit tetralogy was best-selling and the recipient of two Pulitzers.

First published in 1960, Rabbit, Run was the second novel of Updike's career and broke ground in ways similar to his Couples of 1968. Never one for self-censorship, he laced Rabbit, Run with an audacity and sexual frankness that writers such as Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, and William S. Burroughs also championed through the 1960s and 70s. Updike was certainly not alone in overcoming literary taboos, but he stands apart from his contemporaries in using a Protestant, middle-class perspective that combines issues of family, sexuality, and politics with bourgeois life and religion.

Rabbit, Run, written by Updike in his mid-twenties, was a reaction to the social climate of America as it moved out of the 1950s, a decade marked by vast prosperity and, to many, extreme conformism. Updike made reference to Americans feeling 'stuck' in the 50s, when the United States advanced through early phases of the Cold War to become a military and economic superpower. His characters from this period, usually middle-class suburbanites, lack direction and personal fulfillment in a post-Second World War malaise that overshadowed the Eisenhower administration.

Set in the fictitious Pennsylvania town of Mt. Judge, Updike often uses the word 'net' to describe a late 1950s atmosphere that Harold 'Rabbit' Angstrom feels trapped in. Harry, once a star on his high school's basketball team, is now 26 years old. He is dabbling in the working world as a kitchen gadget salesman while caring for his pregnant, alcoholic wife Janice Springer and 2 ½-year-old son Nelson.

Harry, from the opening pages, is facing a mental and spiritual crisis. While swamped in an unhappy marriage, he deals with flak from his parents and in-laws to keep the Angstrom and Springer names unblemished, pressure from his Christian faith, and demands by society to have a chicken in the pot and two cars in the garage. Unable to cope much longer, he hops into his Ford and drives to the Mid-Atlantic states with no intention of returning.

Dogged by family obligations, Harry drives back to Mt. Judge and joins Marty Tothero, his old basketball coach who is living in the attic of a social hall. Harry always looked to Tothero for advice but finds his pep talks outdated and stale. Yet it is through Tothero that he meets Ruth Leonard, a heavy-set woman who seems to make ends meet through prostitution. A morbid affair, based on domination rather than love, begins and Rabbit finds himself more at odds with his conscience than ever. This guilt is heightened by Jack Eccles, an Episcopalian minister who has been asked by the Angstroms and Springers to 'convert' Rabbit back into family loyalty.

It does not take long to sense an absence of emotional depth in Harry, which causes his undoing in Rabbit, Run and over the three later novels. Still living on the glory of his basketball days, Rabbit seems to lack consideration for most anyone outside of himself. He has no patience in helping his drink-quaffing wife and is repulsed by her second pregnancy. Except for his son Nelson, he cannot seem to form any direct connection with another person's feelings; men are negative forces that pose threats and women are vessels for his rampant sexual desires.

His behavior is impulsive, almost animal, and the work of Eccles to steer him onto the righteous path seems hopeless. Yet Rabbit is himself aware of what is lacking. Unhappy with his life and clinging to what little of his Christian faith is available, Rabbit senses a reality beyond Mt. Judge but cannot find his way. Against a static backdrop where there is little hope of improvement, it is no wonder that Harry feels like skipping town. Updike asks whether our ties to other humans are truly strong enough for Rabbit to go back.

While an engaging, often funny, and ultimately painful book, Rabbit, Run is a product of the early Updike, the writer who has not fully set down his method. Like Updike through all periods, the novel is rich in detail and brings us to the heart of its protagonist, but it does not have the total balance and polish that his later fiction carries. Updike had published just one earlier novel, The Poorhouse Fair, in 1959 and was still a distance off from the pristine narrative and impeccable form of Rabbit is Rich, a superior, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel released in 1981.

As usual, Updike does not divide the novel into chapters but into loosely-based sections that run for dozens of pages. Rabbit, Run is told in third-person semi-omniscient, telling most of the story from Harry's point of view but stepping away to relate other characters' predicaments, such as those of Janice and Eccles. This keeps the reader fully aware of the developments. The book functions well as a unit, but Updike might have created a more suspenseful novel by revealing some of the events after they happened.

Updike, who thought of Rabbit, Run as a film on printed pages, admitted that the novel was written 'carelessly' in order to gain a narrative freedom. At times, his writing seems too free; besides detail-packed sentences that leave out punctuation to maintain flow, Updike tinkers with stream of consciousness to describe characters' innermost thoughts. This actually breaks the narrative rhythm more than it sheds light.

These problems are overridden whenever Updike gives meaning to drab, ordinary lives. Updike's characters and settings are unpleasantly real and cause us to think we've been in the exact situations before. While his narration is a bit too verbose, Updike's dialogue is some of the most beautifully conceived in American literature. A typically Updike combination of pleasure and pain, Rabbit, Run and its three successors make up a commentary that will remain popular for at least the near future.

Those interested in the social history of America should read at least one of the Rabbit novels, beginning with Rabbit, Run in 1960 and ending with Rabbit at Rest in 1990. A novelette based on the Rabbit series, Rabbit Remembered, was also published in Updike's 2001 collection Licks of Love. Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1982 and 1991, respectively.

Rabbit, Run is in wide circulation at bookstores, libraries, and on the Internet, including as a 284-page Fawcett Crest paperback. The 1993 Fawcett printing has small but clear type and a cheerful blue cover. Earlier hardcover releases by Alfred A. Knopf with Updike's familiar jacket design are also available. Harold Angstrom has been the wellspring of Updike's fame during his lifetime and will almost certainly make up the bulk of posthumous fame that Updike enjoys.