Bookseller offers volumes from Updike’s personal collection

Posted on October 24, 2012 by James Plath

Mark Stolle, who owns the used bookstore Manchester By the Book in Manchester, Mass., writes that he purchased books from John Updike periodically. He kept most of them at the house but is now bringing a few to the store to sell. Most are inscribed to Updike from well-known authors. If anyone is interested they can contact him by email (Manchesterbythebook@gmail.com) or phone (978-525-2929). Some of you may have spoken with him in Boston, as he attended our conference.

A new in-depth scholarly review of Terrorist surfaces

Posted on October 11, 2012 by James Plath

Amien Kacou has reviewed Updike’s “Terrorist” for Perspectives on Terrorism: a journal of the Terrorism Research Initiative. It’s a lengthy, scholarly article that the editor notes “takes a research article format, which is a nontraditional approach; it offers a thesis, based on an extended, footnoted philosophical study.” It appears online in Vol. 6, No. 4-5 (2012).

Here’s the link, with thanks to Larry Randen for calling it to our attention.

Rabbit, Run included in Banned Books Trading Card Project

Posted on October 11, 2012 by James Plath

Updike once remarked that he liked to think of his books being discovered by a young boy somewhere in Kansas, and that looks like a real possibility, since the Lawrence Public Library in Lawrence, Kansas, seems to be a firm believer in fighting censorship. This year they’ve “assembled sets of seven cards designed by local artists and inspired by banned books or authors.” Updike’s Rabbit, Run was one of the seven. You can buy the sets by mail. This item comes from Jack De Bellis, who probably has already ordered his set.

Here’s the link.

A footnote on Updike’s “A Mild Complaint” surfaces

Posted on September 15, 2012 by James Plath

Updike’s short story “A Mild Complaint” appeared in Ian Frazier’s Humor Me: An Anthology of Funny Contemporary Writing (Plus Some Great Old Stuff, Too) (Ecco Press, 2010) with this footnote, which appears in the author’s introduction:

“Also, unconnected to anything, here’s a note, just FYI: The John Updike piece, “A Mild Complaint,” which concludes Part I, was famous at the New Yorker as the piece that the magazine held on to the longest before it was published. Updike wrote the piece, and the magazine bought it, in the mid-1950s, when he was a young man. For inscrutable reasons the New Yorker then kept the piece for twenty-some years and finally ran it in the 1970s [sic, actually April 19, 1982], when Updike was in his middle years. The piece is included here as a testament to the resilience of literature, and as a wave to Mr. Updike, wherever in the afterlife he may be” (xi-xii).

Frazier’s remarks can be found in context at this link. Thanks to member Larry Randen for passing it along.

De Bellis’ new book available for pre-order

Posted on September 8, 2012 by James Plath

Jack De Bellis’ new book, John Updike’s Early Years (Lehigh University Press, cloth, 188pp), will be published in January 2013 and is now available for pre-order through Rowman & Littlefield.

Here’s the link, which includes an extensive description.

Boutique retailer offers JU limited edition portrait

Posted on September 3, 2012 by johnupdikesociety

Here’s an odd Updike sighting: Larry Randen forwarded this item from The McSweeney’s Store, a San Francisco-based publishing company and boutique retailer. And on their website, under the category of “Limited Edition Goods,” there’s a sketch/portrait of John Updike for sale for $150. No word on how “limited” the edition is, and curiously Updike’s portrait is priced at $50 more than rocker Mick Jagger’s, but $50 less than self-described “liberal foodie intellectual” Michael Pollan.

The artist is Tony Millionaire (born Scott Richardson), a cartoonist and illustrator whose drawings have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. Fans of Adult Swim may also know his work.

Editorial touts Updike home purchase as first step toward literary tourism

Posted on September 3, 2012 by James Plath

An editorial published today (September 3) in the Reading Eagle, “Sale of Updike home a promising development for Berks,” touts the purchase as “a first step toward encouraging literary tourism in our area” and calls for people who knew Updike to consider donating objects to the museum and other institutions to consider ways they can use their ties to Updike to help attract visitors to the area.

Updike Society president James Plath will be a featured speaker at the Alvernia Literary Festival on October 8, and he will use that visit to Reading to meet with various parties to ensure that the Society continues to move forward on this project in ways that are beneficial to the community.

Here’s the full editorial.

Camden House is now accepting pre-orders for “Becoming John Updike”

Posted on September 2, 2012 by James Plath

Camden House has begun accepting pre-orders for Becoming John Updike: Critical Reception, 1958-2010, by Laurence W. Mazzeno.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the journalistic and academic response to Updike’s writings.

Mazzeno, President Emeritus of Alvernia University, is a member of the Society. Here’s the link. No cover art is available yet.

News of Updike home purchase prompts Habitat for Humanity offer and media coverage

Posted on August 28, 2012 by johnupdikesociety

News that The John Updike Society had finalized the purchase of the childhood home at 117 Philadelphia Ave. in Shillington, Pa., was met with a quick and generous response from Habitat Humanity of Berks County. Executive Director Tim Daley said that the project was just the sort of thing that his group could align with. It’s a community museum, it’s significant to Berks County, and Habitat for Humanity has been looking to contribute to the community in additional ways beside their traditional single-family constructions, he said. Daley offered their resource of volunteers and “some expertise” to assist the society in repairing and restoring the house and grounds, and that offer was happily and gratefully accepted.

News of the sale also spread quickly. When anyone asks if John Updike is still “relevant,” just point to the media attention that followed the society’s purchase of the childhood home. In the Reading area it was front-page news and covered on television as well. But it was also picked up elsewhere. Here are some of the links:

“Updike childhood home sold, paving way for museum; Society pays $180,000 for childhood home of author” — Reading Eagle

“John Updike Society finalizes purchase of home” —WFMZ 69 News

“Updike’s Pa. childhood home bought, museum planned” — The Inquirer

“Group buys John Updike’s childhood home in Shillington, Pa.; restoration and museum planned — The Washington Post

“John Updike’s Pennsylvania Childhood House Bought, Museum Planned” —The Huffington Post

Now the work . . . and the fun . . . begins.

NY Times Book Review Editor recommends The Centaur as a “school book”

Posted on August 27, 2012 by James Plath

In an article titled “Times Staffers Recommend ‘School Books,'” by John Williams, Sam Tanenhaus, the Times Book Review Editor, picked The Centaur as his recommendation for “books that are set in or around schools.”

Here’s the link to the story, which was posted on August 24, 2012.

THE JOHN UPDIKE SOCIETY

Celebrating one of the most significant American writers of the 20th century