U and I (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Nicholson Baker
- First Published: 1991
- Type of Work: Memoir and literary criticism
- Time of Work: Primarily the 1980’s
- Setting: The United States
- Principal Characters: Nicholson Baker, John Updike
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
- Subjects: Self-discovery, United States or Americans, Sex or sexuality, Twentieth century, Literature, Writing, Genius, Obsession, Apprentices, Motivation
- Locales: United States
This is a true story of the relationship between Nicholson Baker and John Updike—or rather of the relationship that exists between them in Baker’s mind; Baker does not actually know Updike. In fact, he has met Updike exactly twice. (The brief encounters are meticulously chronicled here.) What he has read of Updike is by no means complete or conclusive. Yet if we are to believe Baker—and there is no reason not to—Updike’s influence on his life for the past thirteen years has been insistent, powerful, and profound.
Certainly, Baker has claimed Updike as his impersonal...
[The entire page is 2084 words long]
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