End-of-year accolades keep coming for Adam Begley and his biography of Updike:

Biographile: Discover the World Through Biography and Memoir
Updike by Adam Begley

“Like his sometimes-rival Cheever, Updike was a writer named John who liked to pick at the pretty exterior of American suburbia and see what he could find. The results of his excavations were some of the most vivid works of American literature to date, albeit ones marred somewhat by Updike’s obvious discomfort with the fairer sex. Journalist Begley is a compassionate biographer, but doesn’t avoid discussion of Updike’s stormy personal life.”

The Lone Reader
3. Updike – Adam Begley

There are few writers I admire more than Updike. His work was so prolific and of such quality, it’s hard to compare him to anyone. What Begley’s biography does is link the writer’s work to his life. Indeed, the best moments are when Begley spends time on what Updike wrote, especially the discussion of the short stories. It may be rather reverential, but the book does display Updike as a flawed man, one who deeply regretted some of his decisions. It shed light not only on the man but on his work and after reading it, I returned to the Olinger short stories and saw them in a new light. Begley has written a readable, fascinating biography.

 janetsomerville: Musings about books, film and theatre
Updike by Adam Begley

A masterful literary biography that has me pledging to read as much of Updike’s oeuvre as I can. Each time I finished a book, I penned a hand-written missive to Adam Begley. So far, I’ve enjoyed Seek My Face, Always Looking: Essays on Art, and Self-Consciousness the most.