Conversations with John Updike

by James Plath (Editor)

John Updike says: Any act of description is, to some extent, an act of praise, so that even when the event is unpleasant or horrifying or spiritually stunning, the very attempt to describe it is, in some way, part of that Old Testament injunction to give praise. Even though my books strike many people as immoral or morally useless, to me they are really moral investigations of how we live, and harsh, perhaps, because the standards are otherworldly. There was a tradition among my peers for frank and open talk, and I'd always been a rather shy, priggish, unexperienced adolescent. So maybe my revenge as a young adult was to put down all the dirty words that I'd always been a little shy about using. James Plath, a professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University, is editor-publisher of "Clockwatch Review" and director of Hemingway Days Writer's Workshop and Conference in Key West.

302 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

Reviews

[Dottie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some better than others . A few a bit repetitive. Even so I found myself becoming lessstandoffish about this author as a person and enjoyed much of his varied commentary on theology and philosophy and the world at large. Trying to inch further into the prolific output of a seemingly iconic Amercan writer I have avoided nearly in toto for some reason.

[JimZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selected interviews of John Updike 1959 - 1993. Provides a tremendous amount of information about the man, his world and his works, in his own words. Some of the interviews are just priceless! I recommend it.