Jason Chambers: As no doubt most of you have learned by now, literary giant John Updike has died at the age of 76. He wrote more than 50 books, and includes 2 Pulitzer Prizes and 2 National Book Awards among the many recognitions of his work. Read the Salon article listing the highlights of his life, his many accomplishments, writings, and criticisms. Also check of the NYT database including reviews for many of his older works. There’s also a lot of links to interesting pages to be found here
On a personal note, while I generally prefer novels to short stories, I find that his short stories really stand the test of time, even compared to his longer works, some of which feel dated. Here’s one I like. Read his earliest collections, and be amazed at the precision and characterization. Good stuff.
Also, as a baseball fan, I highly recommend reading some of his sports writing. Here is a link to a great piece on Ted Williams. Definitely worth the time.
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