Rabbit Redux (1971) Signed First Edition Reference

Rabbit Redux (1971) is the second Rabbit novel and the most politically turbulent volume of the tetralogy. Set in 1969 — during the moon landing, the Vietnam War, and the social upheavals of the late 1960s — the novel finds Harry Angstrom at home in the town of Brewer, Pennsylvania, while the world outside erupts. His wife Janice has left him for a car salesman; Rabbit takes in Jill, a young runaway from an affluent family, and Skeeter, a Black Vietnam veteran and revolutionary. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, the novel is Updike’s most confrontational engagement with American racial and political conflict.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York Publication date: 1971 Format: Hardcover, 407 pages First printing indicator: “First Edition” on the copyright page

By 1971, Updike was a major literary figure, and Knopf printed accordingly. The first printing was larger than Rabbit, Run’s, and signed copies are more available.

Signed Copy Values

• Flat-signed: $300–$800
• Inscribed: $500–$1,500

Substantially cheaper than signed Rabbit, Run first editions, reflecting both the larger print run and the greater availability of signed copies through Updike’s mail-signing practice. As the second volume of the tetralogy, it is essential for set-builders but does not command standalone trophy pricing.

The Political Rabbit

Rabbit Redux is the novel in which Updike most directly engaged with the 1960s counterculture and the racial tensions that defined the era. The characters of Jill and Skeeter bring the outside world — drugs, radicalism, Black Power, Vietnam — into Rabbit’s domestic space with catastrophic consequences. The novel was controversial on publication (some critics found Updike’s treatment of race presumptuous) and remains one of his most debated works.

Tetralogy Position

Within the Rabbit tetralogy, Redux is the transitional volume — it takes Rabbit from the restless young husband of Rabbit, Run to the settled, prosperous middle-aged man of Rabbit Is Rich. For collectors, its value is primarily as a component of the tetralogy set rather than as a standalone acquisition.