John Updike Remembered

Who was John Updike? Fifty-three commentators have much to tell us. They reveal Updike through anecdote, observation, and insight. Their memories reveal Updike the high school prankster, the golfer, the creator of bedtime stories, the charming ironist, the faithful correspondent of scholars, the devoted friend, and the dedicated practitioner of his art. Among those who share their prismatic views of Updike through interviews and essays are his first wife and three of their children; high school and college friends; authors John Barth, Joyce Carol Oates and Nicholson Baker; journalists Terri Gross and Ann Goldstein; and academics Jay Parini, William Pritchard, James Plath, and Adam Begley, Updikes biographer. These writers provide views of Updike not revealed before. Concluding his offering, Donald Greiner maintains that we each create our own John Updike. Many readers may well find themselves enjoying remembrances of their own encounters with John Updike and his work.