John Updike

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John Updike Biography

John Updike is always caught in the middle. Fortunately, that’s how he likes it. By his own admission, Updike has dedicated his career to depicting middle-class people in small-town America. A New England native, Updike’s dissection of Yankee WASPs earned him early success and numerous literary awards. Later in life, Updike experimented outside that comfort zone, yielding mixed results and responses. These later works often take well-known stories and reinvent them or retell them from a new perspective. At its best, Updike’s writing celebrates America, even as it depicts the complexities of human relationships. In lesser efforts, Updike has been criticized as indulgent and simplistically self-satisfied. Still, his impressive body of work contains fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry, short and long form, and children’s stories as well as grown-up sagas.

Facts and Trivia

  • Updike’s depiction of small-town America took a whimsical turn in his novel The Witches of Eastwick, later adapted as a film, a short-lived TV show, and a stage musical.
  • One of Updike’s best-beloved pieces of writing is an essay about legendary Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams called “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.”
  • A departure from his usual work, Updike’s 2000 novel Gertrude and Claudius is a prequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
  • Updike, the critic, is not afraid of taking on fellow novelists, regardless of their reputation. He has traded words with the likes of Gore Vidal and Tom Wolfe.
  • Updike died on January 27, 2009, at the age of 76.

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John Updike stands as a towering figure in American literature, renowned for his extensive and diverse body of work. Over his career, he ventured into writing novels, short stories, essays, poetry, art critiques, and even a play, making significant contributions across various literary forms. His numerous accolades include a National Book Award and two Pulitzer Prizes, with his works finding adaptations in both television and film.

Early Life and Inspiration

Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on March 18, 1932, John Updike spent the early years of his life in Shillington, a town that deeply influenced his storytelling. His fictional town of Olinger echoes the essence of Shillington, reflecting autobiographical elements in many of his stories. At thirteen, Updike moved with his family to a farm in Plowville, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of his mother. His father taught math at a junior high school, while his mother pursued a career in writing, contributing to the New Yorker—a path Updike would similarly follow. Excelling academically, he graduated as co-valedictorian from Shillington High School and received a scholarship to attend Harvard University, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon.

Early Career and Personal Life

In 1953, Updike married Mary Pennington and embarked on a journey to England under a Knox Fellowship. There, he studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford, contemplating a career in cartooning for Walt Disney or the New Yorker. 1955 marked the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth, prompting him to secure employment at the New Yorker. After two years with the magazine, Updike chose to dedicate himself entirely to fiction, relocating to Ipswich, Massachusetts. The marriage to Mary produced four children before ending in divorce in 1977, after which Updike remarried, tying the knot with Martha Bernhard.

A Prolific Writing Career Begins

The late 1950s marked a burst of creativity for Updike, as he published his debut novel, Poorhouse Fair, alongside a collection of short stories titled The Same Door and a book of poems, The Carpentered Hen and Other Tame Creatures. His literary presence solidified with the release of Rabbit, Run in 1960, introducing readers to Harry Angstrom, a character whose life seemingly peaked as a teen basketball star. Harry's ongoing struggle with the unfulfilled potential of his youth resonated with audiences and critics alike.

Acclaim and Adaptations

Harry Angstrom’s character, central to Updike’s "Rabbit" series, garnered critical acclaim, earning Updike two Pulitzer Prizes—one for Rabbit Is Rich in 1982 and another for Rabbit at Rest in 1991. Updike’s novel The Witches of Eastwick also achieved popularity, narrating the tale of three divorced women in New England who acquire supernatural powers. Their newfound abilities lead to humorous yet complicated outcomes when a devilish man enters their midst. This novel was adapted into a 1987 film featuring an all-star cast, including Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Cher.

Thematic Concerns

Across the extensive expanse of his work, Updike consistently explored themes central to middle-class, Protestant, contemporary American life, often dissecting the intricate dynamics of marriage, divorce, sexuality, and religion. His ability to scrutinize and portray these everyday elements with such depth underscored his reputation as a perceptive and insightful author.

Behind "A & P"

In an interview with SSfS, Updike recounted the origins of his short story "A & P," written in 1961 while residing in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The story germinated from a simple observation: "Driving past the local A & P, I asked myself, 'Why are there no short stories that take place inside an A & P?' I proceeded to write one, based on a glimpse I had had of some girls in bathing suits shopping in the aisles. They looked strikingly naked." Originally, the story extended beyond its current conclusion, with protagonist Sammy venturing to the beach in search of the girls, but this extended ending was trimmed after editorial suggestion from the New Yorker, a decision with which Updike agreed.

Criticism by John Updike

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