John Updike

Close and Not-So-Close Encounters With Famous Authors

Dave Astor | Posted 05.23.2012

Dave Astor

Literature fans love "encounters" with living or dead authors. These might involve seeing novelists at book signings, listening to them give a talk, or visiting homes/museums connected with famous authors of the past.

My John Updike

Stephanie Vanderslice | Posted 05.14.2012

Stephanie Vanderslice

John Updike would have been 79 this Sunday. When he died of lung cancer in January 2009 the Web lit up with tributes, and as I read them I remembered my own John Updike story.

How is the New York Times Book Review Doing?

Steve Kettmann | Posted 01.16.2012

Steve Kettmann

If a call came tomorrow and you were asked to take over as editor of the Times Book Review, what, if any, changes would you make?

The Fastest Writers Ever Give You Advice for NaNoWriMo

Posted 01.07.2012

From Flavorwire Yesterday marked the kickoff of National Novel-Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo), the online project that challenges participants to wr...

Diana Athill's Response To The VS Naipaul Attack

guardian.co.uk | Alison Flood | Posted 08.03.2011

Former publisher rubbished by Naipaul for writing 'feminine tosh' says she is not taking his criticism seriously. ...

Dirty Old (Literary) Men: Writing's Filthiest Perverted Geniuses

flavorwire.com | Nina MacLaughlin | Posted 05.25.2011

There has been a lot of talk about books and sex in this space lately, and it's not just because of yesterday's holiday. Anyone who has taken English ...

Larry Rivers After Crossing His Delaware

Barbara Probst Solomon | Posted 05.25.2011

Barbara Probst Solomon

Larry was intellectual, literary, and one of the most brainy artists of his generation, but there was always the feeling in the art world that the more intellectual the artist, the less talented the painter.

The Genius Of G.K. Chesterton: Understanding The Heart Of The Enduring Story

Kevin Belmonte | Posted 05.25.2011

Kevin Belmonte

So what were Shaw and Hemmingway on about? Who was this writer of genius and great good humor? In the world of letters, or within the convivial setting of a tavern, he was an undeniable presence.

Trains, Planes, On The Street...

Gabe Habash | Posted 05.25.2011

It's time for another installment of Reading In Public! When someone takes a book into a public place, it's a big commitment. We have lots of things ...

"Here's That Rainy Day": A Damp Playlist for Wet Weather

David Wild | Posted 05.25.2011

David Wild

Even here in the normally sunny Southwest, the rain has been falling in recent days. And so here's a damp but intermittently lovely playlist for all those rainy days in our lives.

Radio's Rare Class Act Achieves Ratings, Book Success

Bill Mann | Posted 05.25.2011

Bill Mann

Michael Krasny has probably interviewed more famous and celebrated authors than anyone, ever. Amazingly, he's done it on a sharply devalued medium, radio.

John Updike's Papers Go To College Near His Hometown

AP | MICHAEL RUBINKAM | Posted 05.25.2011

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Rabbit is running again, this time to a new home at Pennsylvania's Alvernia University. The school in Reading announced Wednes...

Dust Jacket Sketchbook: A Cartoonist's Take On The Literary World (PHOTOS)

Jeffrey Koterba | Posted 05.25.2011

Jeffrey Koterba

2010-09-24-cartoonist.gif As an editorial cartoonist who is also a writer and lover of books, I'm continually on the lookout for opportunities to draw literary-themed cartoons.

HuffPost Review: Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

Marshall Fine | Posted 05.25.2011

Marshall Fine

It's disappointing that Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel isn't a better movie. Not that it's a bad one. But, were cable standards a little less skittish, it would fit right in on the Biography channel.

Random House, Macmillan Rage Against Amazon's Deal With Agent Andrew Wylie

The Guardian | Alison Flood | Posted 05.25.2011

NEW YORK — (AP) It's war between Random House Inc. and a top literacy agency. Random House, the country's leading trade publisher, announced Th...

A Conversation With Justin Currie About Life, Love & Craig Ferguson

David Wild | Posted 05.25.2011

David Wild

Scottish singer-songwriter Justin Curie has always reminded me just a little bit of John Lennon, as well as another of my favorite writers named John -- John Updike. Read on to find out why the hell I would say such a thing.

The New Henry Miller Speaks Out: Interview With Eric Miles Williamson, Author of 'Welcome to Oakland'

Anis Shivani | Posted 05.25.2011

Anis Shivani

What I tell my students is this: Don't read any living American writers. If you're going to read any American writers at all, only read dead ones. That way you can be sure you're not wasting your time.

"Hub Fans" Redux: John Updike, Ted Williams, and the Great American Essay

Christopher Carduff | Posted 05.25.2011

Christopher Carduff

"The heart of fandom," John Updike once wrote, "is identification": that's my team at the top of the division, those are my guys chasing the pennant, and c'mon, let's face it, we're the best.

Is Fiction Culturally Irrelevant?

The New York Observer | Lee Siegel | Posted 05.25.2011

Amid all the hubbub provoked by The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" list, one elephant-sized fact has been hidden in plain view. Fiction has become cultura...

John Updike's Archive 'Holds The Keys To His Literary Universe'

The New York Times | Posted 05.25.2011

"Updike's archive may be the last great paper trail," Adam Begley, a critic and literary journalist now at work on a biography of Updike, said in an e...

John Updike Conference To Be Held In Fall

Los Angeles Times | Carolyn Kellogg | Posted 05.25.2011

The works of John Updike will be celebrated and examined at the inaugural John Updike Conference, to be held this fall in Reading, Penn. ...

How Old Can A 'Young Writer' Be?

The New York Times | SAM TANENHAUS | Posted 05.25.2011

IT may well be that the writers singled out by The New Yorker have already written lasting works. But it is a mistake to assume that because they are ...

Ten Books That Influenced Me: In a Blink

Lea Lane | Posted 05.25.2011

Lea Lane

When I got my MA in English Lit I had to read more than 100 great works. I was 22, and didn't have much of an idea about the great themes or historical context. I was overwhelmed and pretty clueless. But the following books changed my life

"The Changeup"

David Vognar | Posted 05.25.2011

David Vognar

As spring dawns on New York City it will mean more than the end of a snow-coated winter. New Yorkers are anticipating their first season as reigning World Series champs in almost ten years.

Influences: Angelic and Demonic

Barbara Probst Solomon | Posted 05.25.2011

Barbara Probst Solomon

Salinger gave my generation a permission to write about our lives, our very ordinary adolescent times. He gave us our voice, our right to be serious in our own postwar, perhaps over-privileged, tones.