San Antonio College Library

Examines the texture and structure of Updike's writing, with special attention to the metaphoric language, above all the image patterns, that mark his style.

Collects thirty-two interviews with the writer between 1959 and 1993.

In the first comprehensive study of Updike's oeuvre to appear in a decade, James Schiff takes on the enormous task of understanding this versatile and brilliant writer. In this up-to-date overview, Schiff provides commentary on recent individual works that have yet to receive critical treatment: Memories of the Ford Administration, Brazil, and In the Beauty of the Lilies. He treats individual works and aspects of Updike's oeuvre that have been partially...

Prolific in a variety of genres, John Updike is one of North America's premier men of letters, regularly producing novels, poetry, short fiction, and volumes of assorted prose. Without question, he is one of the most widely read contemporary American authors. Updike's elegant fiction on the tensions and tragedies of contemporary middle-class life have earned him numerous awards, including the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Rabbit is Rich. Updike...

"Updike is Adam Begley's masterful, much-anticipated biography of one of the most celebrated figures in American literature: Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Updike--a candid, intimate, and richly detailed look at his life and work. In this magisterial biography, Adam Begley offers an illuminating portrait of John Updike, the acclaimed novelist, poet, short-story writer, and critic who saw himself as a literary spy in small-town and suburban America,...

"John Updike's Early Years first examines his family, then places him in the context of the Depression and World War II. Relying upon interviews with former classmates, the next chapters examine Updike's early life and leisure activities, his athletic ability, social leadership, intellectual prowess, comical pranks, and his experience with girls. Two chapters explore Updike's cartooning and drawing, and the last chapter explains how he modeled his...

Examines the delights of paintings and sculptures through a gallery of twentythree illustrated essays. The wit and sharp observation one expects from novelist/short story writer/poet/essayist Updike are found in these 23 pieces on art, supplemented by 193 plates. He offers trenchant views on Monet ("painting Nature in her nudity"); John Singer Sargent ("too facile"); Andrew Wyeth's "heavily hyped" series of Helga nudes; Degas's "patient invention...

Contains plot summaries of, list of characters in, critical views on: A & P -- Ace in the hole -- Flight -- Pigeon feathers -- Packed dirt, churchgoing, a dying cat, a traded car.