As of Tuesday, July 6, The Witches of Eastwick, the 1987 film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer, is available on Blu-ray. Warner Brothers released it as the “B” movie on a Comedy Double Feature that also includes Practical Magic, a 1998 film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters hexed by a centuries-old curse . . . and zombies.

“The Witches of Eastwick comes off best, wittier, funnier, and it alone is worth the price of the disc,” writes John J. Puccio of DVDTown.com. “The Witches of Eastwick is at its best whenever Nicholson or [Veronica] Cartwright are on the screen,” Puccio writes, though Updike went on record as saying that he thought Pfeiffer was the best. “Maybe it’s not as subtle or elegant as Updike’s book, but it should keep most audiences occupied with its exuberant, supernatural battle of the sexes,” Puccio adds.

Tomorrow, July 1, is the last day to get the advance registration discount for The First Biennial John Updike Society Conference at Alvernia University, Reading, Pa. If you haven’t registered yet, or if you’re undecided, please have another look at the Conference registration form/information.pdf. The first week in October is a great week for fall color in Pennsylvania. Give yourself a four-day weekend. You deserve it.

The typewriter recently auctioned by Christie’s that belonged to John Updike will be displayed at the First Biennial John Updike Society Conference at Alvernia University this October 1-3, thanks to the generosity of the winning bidder.

Californian Steve Soboroff, who collects typewriters once owned by famous authors, bid $4,375 to get the Updike Olympia “electric 65c” typewriter with metal typewriter cart in order to add to a growing collection that includes typewriters once used by Ernest Hemingway, George Bernard Shaw, Jack London, Tennessee Williams, and songwriter John Lennon. Yep, that John Lennon.

So the Updike typewriter is in good company and seems to have found a good home . . . and an owner with a good heart. Soboroff contacted the Society and offered to loan it for the conference, and so it will be exhibited in Reading, Pa. this October for all to see.

An interesting story about Soboroff appears in the Palisadian-Post, which provides details not only about his collection but also about his accomplishments and standing in the community. And like Updike, he has a Harvard connection. He was honored in the past as the Harvard Business School “Business Statesman of the Year” by the Southern California chapter.

John Updike: A Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Materials, 1948-2007, by members Jack De Bellis and Michael Broomfield (Oak Knoll Press, 2007) , is among the 52 books being considered for the 15th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography, awarded by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. It’s the kind of competition of which Updike himself would have approved, with jurors coming together to handle and discuss the books before making their final choice. The prize is awarded every four years.

Dale Estey wrote in Red Room: where the writers are that literary agent Andrew Wylie, who represents the John Updike Estate, is threatening to bypass publishers and sell authors’ e-book rights directly to Google, Amazon, or Apple.

Here’s the story.

Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the New York Times Book Review, got permission to have a sneak peek at the Updike archive now being catalogued at the Houghton. And he talks with Jeffrey Brown about his experience and thoughts about Updike for Art Beat on the PBS NEWS HOUR website.

Here’s the link to “Conversation: Archive Offers Revealing Look at John Updike.”

Updike in Pennsylvania: The First Biennial John Updike Society Conference has been getting a lot of press lately, but members and soon-to-be members wanting to attend this historic event, Oct. 1-3 at Alvernia University, are reminded that July 1 is the deadline to register at the special discount rate of $85. After July 1 the price of basic registration goes up to $120, so take time out to send in your form and save some money. Join us in Updike country, Berks County, Penn., for tours of the Updike homes and sites, panels featuring family members and friends, scenes from the Rabbit tetralogy performed by the Reading Community Players Theatre, presentations by scholars from eight different countries, and keynote speakers Ann Beattie and Lincoln Perry. It will be a memorable experience!

Here’s the PDF for the program details, registration form, and travel/hotel information:  UPDIKE IN PENNSYLVANIA.pdf

Yesterday’s New York Times had an update on the Updike archive that was deposited at the Houghton Library at Harvard University. The story also has some nice information about Updike’s college years, work (and play) habits, and the value of the archival materials at the Houghton—which “crowds an aisle and a half of metal shelving in the basement.” Here’s the link, with thanks going to member Quentin Miller for calling our attention to it. The photo of archivists unpacking and shelving the material is copyrighted by Houghton Library.

Here’s an earlier story about the archive from the Houghton blog.