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Villages by John Updike

Villages tells the story of Owen Mackenzie, now an old man counting his finite days and remembering his life. His life is defined by his career as a software designer and the villages, and the women within them, where he lived throughout his life. He marries Phyllis, who raises the kids while he jumps from bed to bed of different women, regardless of their marital status. Owen doesn't seem to regret his philandering, and plans to leave Phyllis for his second wife, Julia, and he's no more faithful to her. The villages of John Updike's novel breathe with the life brought to them by their women, as does the life of Owen Mackenzie. Villages has received mixed reviews with the Washington Post saying, "This book gives great pleasure. Some writers get more boring with age, but John Updike just gets more perspicacious. The wealth of connections and imagery increases with the years; the practice of literary expression makes the prose yet more perfect."