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Selected Letters of John Updike
The arc of literary giant John Updike's life emerges in these luminous daily letters to family, friends, editors and lovers—a remarkable outpouring over six decades, from his earliest consciousness as a writer to his final days
As James Schiff writes in the introduction to this volume, of the writer who would eventually express himself in written form as fully as any American writer since Henry James, "Updike needed to write the way the rest of us need to breathe or eat." With his stunning rhetorical gifts—allowing him to thrive in both fiction and nonfiction, in criticism as well as poetry—he was also a consummate letter writer. From his early writing attempts (he began submitting work to magazines as a teenager) to the 150 eye-opening letters home when he left the farm and family to go to Harvard, to the young adult correspondence with The New Yorker and other publications where his work began to appear, and on into the fullness of a long literary life, his correspondence, Schiff notes,"figures not as an adjunct to but rather an integral part of his astonishing literary output."
The intimacy and lucidity of these letters brings to the fore all matter of subjects and situations, notably the ardent feelings for his first love and wife, Mary, and later the heartbreaking but honestly accounted breakup of their marriage; the uncensored passion for other women, including the neighbor and friend of the Updikes who became his second wife; the concern for his children's path to adulthood; and the ongoing conversations with many literary peers, from Joyce Carol Oates to Philip Roth, as well as Knopf and New Yorker editors, publicists, and others in the lit business.
Filled with comic observations, opinions, and personal news, told in the exquisitely fluid first-person voice of the writer himself, these missives, taken together, make a page-turning "life in letters" like no other.
As James Schiff writes in the introduction to this volume, of the writer who would eventually express himself in written form as fully as any American writer since Henry James, "Updike needed to write the way the rest of us need to breathe or eat." With his stunning rhetorical gifts—allowing him to thrive in both fiction and nonfiction, in criticism as well as poetry—he was also a consummate letter writer. From his early writing attempts (he began submitting work to magazines as a teenager) to the 150 eye-opening letters home when he left the farm and family to go to Harvard, to the young adult correspondence with The New Yorker and other publications where his work began to appear, and on into the fullness of a long literary life, his correspondence, Schiff notes,"figures not as an adjunct to but rather an integral part of his astonishing literary output."
The intimacy and lucidity of these letters brings to the fore all matter of subjects and situations, notably the ardent feelings for his first love and wife, Mary, and later the heartbreaking but honestly accounted breakup of their marriage; the uncensored passion for other women, including the neighbor and friend of the Updikes who became his second wife; the concern for his children's path to adulthood; and the ongoing conversations with many literary peers, from Joyce Carol Oates to Philip Roth, as well as Knopf and New Yorker editors, publicists, and others in the lit business.
Filled with comic observations, opinions, and personal news, told in the exquisitely fluid first-person voice of the writer himself, these missives, taken together, make a page-turning "life in letters" like no other.
912 pages, Hardcover
Published October 21, 2025
39 people are currently reading
2389 people want to read
About the author
John Updike
863 books2,437 followersJohn Hoyer Updike was an American writer. Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest both won Pulitzer Prizes for Updike. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class," Updike is well known for his careful craftsmanship and prolific writing, having published 22 novels and more than a dozen short story collections as well as poetry, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems have appeared in The New Yorker since the 1950s. His works often explore sex, faith, and death, and their inter-relationships.
He died of lung cancer at age 76.
He died of lung cancer at age 76.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2025
Exceptional insight into Updike's life in his own words to editors, writers, publishers, spouses, children, lovers. For writers, I think it is interesting to see how closely Updike was involved in the publication process, right down to the size and shape of letters on the book cover. At the end of the book, it is shocking to see his intellect intact even as he writes days before his death.
December 22, 2025
The man could write when he was in high school, in college and the rest is history. One of, and maybe the best writer of my lifetime. This is a glimpse of his life told through his letters. To be read slowly so you can absorb everything he has to say.
January 8, 2026
Describing his subject matter as, "the American small town, and the Protestant middle class," critics recognized John H. Updike’s careful craftsmanship, his unique prose style, and his prolific output – a book a year on average. One of the preeminent writers of the 20th century, to be sure. This book was finally published in 2025 by Knopf, after 8-years of gathering and editing.
He also wrote poetry, critical reviews, and short-stories for various popular magazines, such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Harvard Lampoon, American Courier, The New Yorker, Time, NYT, Scientific American, The New Republic, LATBR, Harvard Magazine, Paris Review, and too many others to name.
Notwithstanding all that, prior to email, Updike executed “correspondence” with dozens of people, through his manually-typed letters, featured in this book. Many are routine and boring; frankly, he could go on & on, over nothing?! Often, I felt isolated, or that I was eavesdropping on personal matters, maybe that’s weird.
These letters responded professionally, personally, candidly, politically, ironically, theologically, humorously, academically, and in painstaking, often intimate detail for the reader. I thought I would "catch-on," and this volume would be like going back over the thoughts of a good friend. That was not the case, and Updike was at times too verbose and unattractive for my taste. He died 17-years ago of lung cancer, in Danvers, Mass.
Updike’s literary and personal network was gigantic, and so the topics vary wildly; and one might say they are interesting? He had the talent to make the ordinary seem strange, avant-garde, and even kinky; and he was rare in that he was a novelist, capable of writing good poetry.
As a philandering liberal, yankee-Democrat, chain-smoking Red Sox fan; a lapsed Presbyterian from Harvard, I did not agree with his flippant, but sharp political satire; nevertheless, the letters were written in a different time, and I doubt he ever thought I would read them. #LOL
Biographer Adam Begley wrote that Updike, "transmuted the minutiae of his life" into prose; which enriched his readers, at the cost of being "willing to sacrifice the happiness of people around him, for his art.” He was often harassed by litigation; that’s because Updike re-tells the many historical vignettes of his upbringing in non-urban Pennsylvania, his education at Harvard, working in New York, living in Ipswich, Mass., his intense, economic and artistic competitive nature, and the various trips he took around the globe.
Much of his material was (frank, truthful but) “creative,” non-fiction, based on the common people he knew; however, he is one of only four writers to have won two (2) Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction, and he always consulted constitutional lawyers prior to publishing. For being a genius, he was surprisingly humble and worked extremely hard over a long, productive writing career.
Subsequently, his monetary royalties, fees, per diem, and various income sources, made him comfortably rich. His mother was a good writer and some of his children also took up the pen. By two-thirds through, the writing switch evolves from analog to digital, which actually adds some humor. Overall, this was hard to trudge through, but I am still in awe of Mr. Updike’s long career and this compendium of his letters to the world. ##
He also wrote poetry, critical reviews, and short-stories for various popular magazines, such as the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Harvard Lampoon, American Courier, The New Yorker, Time, NYT, Scientific American, The New Republic, LATBR, Harvard Magazine, Paris Review, and too many others to name.
Notwithstanding all that, prior to email, Updike executed “correspondence” with dozens of people, through his manually-typed letters, featured in this book. Many are routine and boring; frankly, he could go on & on, over nothing?! Often, I felt isolated, or that I was eavesdropping on personal matters, maybe that’s weird.
These letters responded professionally, personally, candidly, politically, ironically, theologically, humorously, academically, and in painstaking, often intimate detail for the reader. I thought I would "catch-on," and this volume would be like going back over the thoughts of a good friend. That was not the case, and Updike was at times too verbose and unattractive for my taste. He died 17-years ago of lung cancer, in Danvers, Mass.
Updike’s literary and personal network was gigantic, and so the topics vary wildly; and one might say they are interesting? He had the talent to make the ordinary seem strange, avant-garde, and even kinky; and he was rare in that he was a novelist, capable of writing good poetry.
As a philandering liberal, yankee-Democrat, chain-smoking Red Sox fan; a lapsed Presbyterian from Harvard, I did not agree with his flippant, but sharp political satire; nevertheless, the letters were written in a different time, and I doubt he ever thought I would read them. #LOL
Biographer Adam Begley wrote that Updike, "transmuted the minutiae of his life" into prose; which enriched his readers, at the cost of being "willing to sacrifice the happiness of people around him, for his art.” He was often harassed by litigation; that’s because Updike re-tells the many historical vignettes of his upbringing in non-urban Pennsylvania, his education at Harvard, working in New York, living in Ipswich, Mass., his intense, economic and artistic competitive nature, and the various trips he took around the globe.
Much of his material was (frank, truthful but) “creative,” non-fiction, based on the common people he knew; however, he is one of only four writers to have won two (2) Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction, and he always consulted constitutional lawyers prior to publishing. For being a genius, he was surprisingly humble and worked extremely hard over a long, productive writing career.
Subsequently, his monetary royalties, fees, per diem, and various income sources, made him comfortably rich. His mother was a good writer and some of his children also took up the pen. By two-thirds through, the writing switch evolves from analog to digital, which actually adds some humor. Overall, this was hard to trudge through, but I am still in awe of Mr. Updike’s long career and this compendium of his letters to the world. ##
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews