The Poorhouse Fair (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Updike
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social satire
- Time of Work: 1980’s
- Setting: The Diamond County Home for the Aged, in New Jersey
- Principal Characters: John Hook, Billy Gregg, George Lucas, Martha, Elizabeth Heineman, Mrs. Mortis, Mr. Conner, Buddy, Ted
- Genres: Long fiction, Satire
- Subjects: 1970’s, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Social reform, 1980’s, New Jersey, Old age or elderly people, Retirement, Elderly abuse
- Locales: New Jersey
The Story:
At the Diamond County Home for the Aged, in New Jersey, it was the day of the annual fair, when the elderly men and women would set up stands and sell such homemade products as quilts, candy, and peach-stone carvings to the visitors from nearby communities. This year, the great day got off to a bad start. John Hook, a ninety-four-year-old former schoolteacher, and Billy Gregg, a seventy-year-old retired electrician, discovered that the porch chairs had been given name tags so that hereafter each inmate would occupy only the chair assigned to him. This latest action...
[The entire page is 1860 words long]
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