Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories

Pigeon Feathers is an early collection of short stories by John Updike, published in 1962. It includes the stories "Wife-Wooing" and "A&P", which have both been anthologized.[1]

Pigeon Feathers

Author	John Updike
Cover artist	S. Neil Fujita
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Short story collection
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	1962

"A&P" and the title story, "Pigeon Feathers", were both adapted into films (see below).

List of stories

• "Walter Briggs"
• "The Persistence of Desire"
• "Still Life"
• "A Sense of Shelter"
• "Dear Alexandros"
• "Wife-Wooing"
• "Pigeon Feathers". Refers to H.G. Wells' book The Outline of History.
• "Home"
• "Archangel"
• "You'll Never Know, Dear, How Much I Love You"
• "The Astronomer"
• "A&P"
• "The Doctor's Wife"
• "Lifeguard"
• "The Crow in the Woods"
• "The Blessed Man of Boston, My Grandmother's Thimble, and Fanning Island"
• "Blocked dirt, creeperslaying, My sword's Hilt, and Nether Island"
• "Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, A Dying Cat, A Traded Car"

Film adaptations

The short story "Pigeon Feathers" was adapted into a film and presented in 1988 on the Public Broadcasting American Playhouse series. It was directed by Sharron Miller and starred Christopher Collet, Caroline McWilliams, Jeffrey DeMunn, Lenka Peterson, and Boyd Gaines. It tells the story of David, a young man who has a crisis of faith as he struggles with his belief in life after death.[2][3]

In 1996, the short story "A&P" was made into a short film directed by Bruce Schwartz. It starred Sean Hayes as Sammy and Amy Smart as Queenie in their first official movie roles.[4]

References

1. Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 7th ed
2. Pigeon Feathers on IMDb
3. Shirley, Don (February 17, 1988). "Television Reviews : 'Revolt of Mother'; 'Pigeon Feathers'". latimes. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
4. A&P on IMDb