Author Archives: johnupdikesociety

Latest John Updike Review spotlights The Maples Stories

Posted on July 9, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

The John Updike Review Vol. 7 No. 2 (Spring 2020) was recently published, and in it editor James Schiff turned the spotlight on The Maples Stories, Updike’s 18-story sequence chronicling the marriage—and divorce—of Richard and Joan Maple, characters based on … Continue reading →

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6th Updike conference postponed because of COVID 19

Posted on July 1, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Because of COVID 19 and concerns for elderly and international members planning to attend, the board of The John Updike Society voted to postpone the 6th biennial conference by exactly one year. Instead of being held September 30 through October … Continue reading →

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An algorithm picks Updike’s greatest books

Posted on June 13, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

The Greatest Books project compiled a list generated from 128 “best of” book lists from a variety of great sources. An algorithm is used to create a master list based on how many lists a particular book appears on. Some … Continue reading →

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Blogger shares Abigail George artists-on-artists poems

Posted on May 21, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Blogger Mia Savant posted a Ponder Savant entry on “Jackson Pollock and Other Poems by Abigail George” that includes the Pollock poem and also poems dedicated to John Updike and Georgia O’Keeffe.  Here’s the Updike poem:   John Updike He … Continue reading →

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Novelist Ajay Close names Rabbit her favorite character

Posted on May 17, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Novelist and dramatist Ajay Close (Official and Doubtful, A Petrol Scented Spring, The Daughter of Lady Macbeth, What We Did in the Dark) was asked by The Herald (U.K.) to share her favorites, which included: Favorite book read as a … Continue reading →

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Rabbit, Run makes TCK Publishing bucket list of books

Posted on April 22, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Is there a better companion to a global stay-at-home recommendation than a list of recommended books to read “before you die” . . . or resume normal activities? TCK Publishing has 100 books they think everyone ought to read, and … Continue reading →

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Updike libretto featured in new Boston Modern Orchestra Project release

Posted on April 22, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

It’s not available on CD yet, but Amazon has unlimited free streaming and MP3s of the new release from the Boston Modern Orchestra Project:  Gunther Schuller’s The Fisherman and His Wife, with libretto by John Updike. Full details are in … Continue reading →

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Updike a misogynist? Not according to these writers

Posted on March 28, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom and several of John Updike’s other male characters have a stratospheric sex drive and a habit of pursuing sexual gratification so often that their antics have led to charges of misogyny in the #MeToo era. But not … Continue reading →

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Readers in Covid-19 isolation are turning to John Updike

Posted on March 28, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Frank T. Pool (Longview News-Journal)recently quoted Emily Dickinson (“There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away”) and referenced John Updike, who “once said that he had read all of Dickens except for one novel, Our … Continue reading →

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Blogger writes of Quarantines and Updike

Posted on March 26, 2020 by johnupdikesociety

Blogger Ed Newman (Ennyman’s Territory: Arts, Culture and Other Life Obsessions) posted an entry today titled “Quarantines and Updike’s Four Life Forces.” It begins with a consideration of Leviticus 8:35 and the author revealing he once wanted to write a … Continue reading →

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