Author Archives: johnupdikesociety

Is John Updike a ‘Malfunctioning Sex Robot’?

Posted on October 14, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

That’s the charge Patricia Lockwood levels after she’s charged with reading and reviewing Novels, 1959-65: The Poorhouse Fair; Rabbit, Run; The Centaur; Of the Farm, by John Updike for the London Review of Books. And she skewers Updike with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Updike in Context | 1 Comment

Interview with Michael Updike spotlights Plowville gravestone

Posted on October 14, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

If you haven’t been to Plow Church cemetery to see John Updike’s gravestone carved by son Michael, there’s a large photo of it accompanying a Northshore Magazine story about how Updike’s sculptor son changed his artistic course after that gravestone. … Continue reading →

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Updike Society well represented at New Orleans short story conference

Posted on October 14, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

In September, 2019, four members of The John Updike Society presented papers at a New Orleans symposium sponsored by the Society for the Study of the American Short Story and the American Literature Association. Robert Luscher, Professor Emeritus of English … Continue reading →

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Rabbit finds his way into a Sam Riviere poem

Posted on September 28, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

In the U.K., Penguin’s Modern Poets Five: Occasional Wild Parties—featuring poems by Sam Riviere, Frederick Seidel, and Kathryn Maris—includes the poem “Year of the Rabbit,” by Riviere. The poem is also available to view online through Poemhunter.com, and so we … Continue reading →

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Lorrie Moore to deliver keynote at 2020 John Updike Conference

Posted on August 19, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

Writer Lorrie Moore will travel to Shillington-Reading to deliver the keynote talk at the 6th Biennial John Updike Society Conference at Alvernia University. The conference will take place the first week in October 2020, which coincides with the October 3 … Continue reading →

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Baby Boomer Report Card references Updike

Posted on August 12, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

In his op-ed piece published in the Friday, August 9, 2019 New York Times (A23), David Brooks grades the Baby Boomer generation on Politics (C-), Social Movements (A), Pop Culture (A), High Culture (C-), Technology and Innovation (A-), Lifestyle (A), … Continue reading →

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Golfer’s Journal features a personal consideration of Updike and golf

Posted on August 12, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

A subscription is required, but if you’re high on golf and John Updike, as Matt Chominski is, you can plunk down the cash and read Chominski’s personal essay “Peculiar Bliss: Navigating family, marriage and golf with John Updike” that appears … Continue reading →

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Announcing a Call for Papers for the 6th John Updike Society Conference

Posted on August 10, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

The John Updike Society is now accepting proposals for papers to be presented at the Sixth Biennial John Updike Society Conference at Alvernia University, Reading, Pennsylvania, in fall 2020. The conference will coincide with the October 3 grand opening and … Continue reading →

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Updike’s booksigning generosity recalled

Posted on July 29, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

Writer-artist-blogger Tim Lemire just published “Yours, John Updike,” a fun piece about signed books, recalling a time in high school when he visited a friend’s house and saw shelf-upon-shelf of books written by John Updike—all of them signed, though his … Continue reading →

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In Memoriam: Derek Parker Royal

Posted on July 23, 2019 by johnupdikesociety

With sadness we report that Derek Parker Royal, who founded the Philip Roth Society in 2002 and also volunteered to serve on the first board of directors for The John Updike Society when it began in 2009, died on July … Continue reading →

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