Author Archives: johnupdikesociety

Time to register for the 6th Biennial John Updike Society Conference

Posted on July 29, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

COVID-19 scuttled the 2020 conference, but while the situation remains fluid the John Updike Society board has decided to move forward with the conference, which will be scaled back to a 2.5 day event with no long day trip, held … Continue reading →

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Writer questions literary Cancel Culture

Posted on July 26, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

In recent years, males who have taken advantage of women have been toppled amid cries of “toxic masculinity,” and Confederate statues and monuments have been removed because of “cancel culture.” But in his Spectator essay “Read Ray Bradbury before he’s … Continue reading →

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Updike makes a Five Great Books reading list

Posted on July 20, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

In a Husteust.com article that begins with a quote from Game of Thrones‘ Tyrion Lannister (“A mind needs books as a sword needs a sharpening stone”), “Five books you should read this year” are recommended: The Road, by Cormac McCarthyLife … Continue reading →

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U and F

Posted on July 14, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

Anything goes these days when it comes to online journalism, partly because so much of what passes for news is opinion posted by untrained non-professionals, but also partly because times have changed. Just not The Times. Though a recently posted … Continue reading →

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Book explores Updike and others as religious writers

Posted on July 5, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

Books published during the COVID quarantine tend not to be on anyone’s radar, but one of them just came to our attention: Listening for God: Malamud, O’Connor, Updike & Morrison, by Peter C. Brown (Mercer University Press, 2020). Of course, … Continue reading →

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Listen to a lecture on the Updike story Separating

Posted on July 4, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

The past two years have seen a huge jump in online classes, with an equally large number of asynchronous courses and assignments. You can watch/listen to Dr. John Pistelli‘s interesting lecture on Updike and “Separating” on YouTube. It’s part of … Continue reading →

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In Memoriam: Dennis B. Ledden

Posted on June 30, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

We are saddened to learn that Dr. Dennis B. Ledden, a society member who was to have presented his paper on “Hemingway, Masculinity, and John Updike’s ‘Twin Beds in Rome’” at the upcoming 6th biennial conference, died of cancer on … Continue reading →

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Rabbit Angstrom named one of The Guardian’s 100 best novels

Posted on June 25, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

“Harry ‘Rabbit’ Angstrom, Updike’s lovably mediocre alter ego, is one of America’s great literary protaganists, up there with Huck Finn and Jay Gatsby,” The Guardian wrote in naming Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels No. 88 on their list of 100 … Continue reading →

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Member’s Updike podcast airs a fourth episode

Posted on June 8, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

Bob Batchelor, a longtime member of The John Updike Society and the author of John Updike: A Critical Biography, started an Updike podcast that’s slowly building. Batchelor has produced four episodes thus far for his podcast, John Updike: American Writer, … Continue reading →

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Singer-songwriter pens, performs song about Updike

Posted on June 5, 2021 by johnupdikesociety

Gary Louris, a singer-songwriter and founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, has written a song titled “Mr. Updike,” his ode to the author. “Mr. Updike” is one of the singles on a solo album that was released today, … Continue reading →

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