Books like Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories

The first few stories in this collection bored me silly. They seemed like experiments at some kind of creative writing workshop. Pretentious, wilfully obtuse, the polar opposite of sexy. I couldn't get a handle on any of them. The jacket told me that, as a reader, I would come away with new insights. I didn't. There were a couple of stories later in the book I enjoyed - a story of three girls entering a supermarket bare-footed in bikinis was the first one I understood as a story and not some self-indulgent prose poem which began and ended in mid flight. Now and again I did suspect it might help to be American to appreciate Updike. I got bored with the same stifling small town setting of every story. Sometimes when reading books I get a feeling about the author as a person, as if I've caught a glimpse of him in his study. Every time I get a glimpse of Updike I see someone I don't much like. Probably, along with John Banville, he's the author I'd least like to be married to. Why he's miles more famous than James Salter is a mystery I'll take to the supermarket with me. Certainly as a husband I'd choose James Salter any day.