John Updike

Oct. 27, 2010

Updike: Words that enter in silence and intimacy

“I think ‘taste’ is a social concept and not an artistic one. I’m willing to show good taste, if I can, in somebody else’s living room, but our reading life is too short for a writer to be in any way polite. Since his words enter into another’s brain in silence and intimacy, he should [...]

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Aug. 23, 2010

“Perfection Wasted” by John Updike

And another regrettable thing about death / is the ceasing of your own brand of magic, / which took a whole life to develop and market — / the quips, the witticisms, the slant / adjusted to a few…

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May. 10, 2010

The Mystery Writer’s Dilemma

“Hugger-mugger takes a lot of explaining, a lot of diagramming. An additional trouble with it, which keeps the suspense thriller, however skillful and polished, a subgenre, is that the novelist, manipulating his human counters on the board, must keep them somewhat blank, with selective disclosure of their inner lives, lest the killer or mole or [...]

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Aug. 10, 2009

Remembering Updike the Father

John Updike’s son writes a eulogy for his father

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Jun. 4, 2009

I Miss U: Updike Is Gone

I miss John Updike. Not his work. I loved his stories and some of his novels, but lately I admired his books more than I enjoyed them, and sometimes not even that. Anyway, he left more books than I will ever be able or inclined to read. It is not Updike’s writing that I miss, [...]

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