{"id":2870,"date":"2015-03-23T08:08:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T13:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/?p=2870"},"modified":"2015-04-01T16:16:52","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T21:16:52","slug":"reading-columnist-thinks-rabbit-a-four-part-bummer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/2015\/03\/23\/reading-columnist-thinks-rabbit-a-four-part-bummer\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading columnist thinks Rabbit a four-part bummer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a>In a Reading Eagle<\/em> column titled “My 2 cents: ‘Rabbit’ series a four-part bummer,”<\/a> columnist Andrew Wagaman<\/strong> makes it clear that he’s no fan of the tetralogy. But he also clears up some matters that have had locals festering for decades now.<\/p>\n

“Updike created a crude, misogynistic narcissist whose belief in his own immortality gradually sours. The downfall is at times hilarious but also excruciating. Any hope for redemption\u2014a son, a bank account\u2014serves only as a prop for more pratfalls. His dying words, ‘It isn’t so bad.'”<\/p>\n

“After my first column, I heard from some that I should quit the series because Updike basically spits on Berks County, where he was born. While Updike sets most of the series in Berks and describes it vividly, he’s really skewering the entire nation, at least its hubris and excess.<\/p>\n

“Thought-provoking? Yes. A four-part bummer? Absolutely. Finishing it isn’t so bad.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Addendum: \u00a0Society member and John Updike Childhood Home patron Bruce Moyer submitted the following humorous pastiche in response:<\/em><\/p>\n

Bouvier sickened by Updike book!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"bouvier\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After his first bite, he heard from some that he should quit because Updike’s books
\nare less than tasteful. As he continued to devour it, against all those “learned” men
\nwho had advised against doing so, he did become sickened. However, his opinion,
\nas noted was, “Finishing it isn’t so bad.”<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a Reading Eagle column titled “My 2 cents: ‘Rabbit’ series a four-part bummer,” columnist Andrew Wagaman makes it clear that he’s no fan of the tetralogy. But he also clears up some matters that have had locals festering for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-first-person-singular"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2870"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2879,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2870\/revisions\/2879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}