Emphasis Preaching Journal

John Updike's early novel The Poorhouse Fair is an exceptionally well told story of an annual outdoor fair conducted for the benefit of a poorhouse in New Jersey. An afternoon rain halted the fair for a time. During the lull some of the inmates gathered around a fire in the parlor. Conner, the administrator of the home, chanced to come into the room and got into a conversation with John T. Hook, an erect and elder statesman of the residents. The conversation degenerated into a debate about creation and the faith.