Brian Keener, author of John Updike’s Human Comedy: Comic Morality in The Centaur and the Rabbit Novels, writes that “our man John Updike has now made an appearance as a literary character. According to a book review of Steve Martin’s new novel, An Object of Beauty, in The New York Times on Nov. 26 (“Only Collect,” by Alexandra Jacobs), Updike appears “in the form of a stranger on a train” with the heroine addressing him, ‘Sit down, father figure.’ This development may open up a new vein of Updike scholarly investigation: John Updike as a literary character.”

And to think that a comic actor may have started the ball rolling.