Updike, John

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What is wrong with you people
An ever changing world
From Kid to Killer?
Too much description, too little story
More Wonderful Writing, Story Could Be Better.

Terrorist
John Updike
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0307264653
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Book Description

The ever-surprising John Updike’s twenty-second novel is a brilliant contemporary fiction that will surely be counted as one of his most powerful. It tells of eighteen-year-old Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy and his devotion to Allah and the words of the Holy Qur’an, as expounded to him by a local mosque’s imam.

The son of an Irish-American mother and an Egyptian father who disappeared when he was three, Ahmad turned to Islam at the age of eleven. He feels his faith threatened by the materialistic, hedonistic society he sees around him in the slumping factory town of New Prospect, in northern New Jersey. Neither the world-weary, depressed guidance counselor at Central High School, Jack Levy, nor Ahmad’s mischievously seductive black classmate, Joryleen Grant, succeeds in diverting the boy from what his religion calls the Straight Path. When he finds employment in a furniture store owned by a family of recently immigrated Lebanese, the threads of a plot gather around him, with reverberations that rouse the Department of Homeland Security.

But to quote the Qur’an: Of those who plot, God is the best.</p>

Customer Reviews:

What is wrong with you people.......2007-06-24

I am 120 pages into this book and all that has happened is this kid graduated from high school and the guidance counselor flirted with his mother. That's it 120 pages --- Ok I will say it: the emperor has NO clothes!!!

An ever changing world.......2007-06-24

Throughout the last decades, North-American writer John Updike has dissected his country's society in a meticulous way. Chronicling urban life, he uses one single character to portray a group. He usually writes about the average suburban whose personal American Dream hasn't worked. His most famous creation is Rabbit Angstron, whose life was followed in a award winner series of novels.

Updike's fictions are usually hand in hand with the historical moment his characters are living in. Therefore, it is not a surprise his latest novel, "Terrorist", has a special connection with life in the United States of America in the awake of the post-9/11. The main character is Ahmad Mullroy, an atypical adolescent. Half Irish and half Egyptian, he is a muslin and in his views, the others are demons trying to deviate him from his mission.

There are two important teacher in this boy's life. One is the counselor in the school, named Jack Levy (this one a typical Updikian character). The other one is the master who teaches him about Islamism in the Mosque. Ahmad doesn't expect much from his future life, he only wants to be a truck driver. But Jack expects the boy can do much more and go to the university.

Updike has a distance from what he is writing about. He never seems to be enchanted with the subject, but he tells the story in a very matter-of-fact fashion. And his comments sometimes seem to be even scientific when describing Islamic and African-American traditions.

"Terrorist" never tries to explain the new American society - this one that belongs to the global world. Updike only exposes this new society - with its many failures and few virtues and many contradictions. In this way, the novel is a honest portrait - however never perfect - of a world in constant change.

From Kid to Killer?.......2007-06-24

Despite the fact that I read a lot of books and John Updike has written a lot of books, I have only read one of his books around 20 years ago. I wasn't overly impressed with my first exposure to him, but I'm a more mature reader now and thought I'd give him another try with Terrorist. This time, I was much happier.

Terrorist is the story of Ahmad Mulloy, a high school senior in New Jersey. The product of a broken home - an absent father and an overworked mother - he has sought guidance elsewhere and has become a devout Muslim. Maybe too devout, as the book's title implies: he is a borderline fanatic, which will lead him into the company of some driven individuals.

There are other characters, in particular Jack Levy, Ahmad's high school counselor who tries to give Ahmad alternate directions in life while also having a not-so-professional relationship with Ahmad's mother. Then there is Joryleen, who despite her upbeat attitude, is probably the saddest character in the book.

I'm sure there are those who would be critical of Updike for humanizing a young man who may very well be a terrorist. I, on the other hand, find it useful to be reminded that terrorists do not spring up from the Earth fully formed; they develop into them just like others develop into more benevolent types. And Ahmad has other qualities, both good and bad: for example, he is studious and respectful, but also intolerant of others who do not meet his high standards.

Agreeing with Updike (or me) is not essential; I can read and enjoy books by authors who I disagree with. What is more important is that Terrorist is a good book and thought-provoking. It is a reminder that the world is not black-and-white but is a whole spectrum of grays.

Too much description, too little story.......2007-06-22

I found myself becoming more and more frustrated with this book. I am not trying to slam the author, but after reading this book I am more aware of how lucky we are to have authors like Stephen King. Updike spends 90 percent of this book describing things that are of absolutely no relevance to the story. For instance, at one part in the story, he could have said in ONE sentence "Beth was watching Days of Our Lives when the phone rang and stood up to answer it." Yet Updike turns this into a 20 page description! No im not exaggerating, 20 pages. You get completely turned off to the story and you forget what your even reading about with his constant long winded descriptions and babbling about nothing. Updike comes off as an amateur writer and it seems that he had a good idea for a story, yet couldnt figure out how to make it long enough so he just wasted page after page talking about nothing and making too strong an effort to use as many metaphors as he possibly can. Good effort, good idea, but in more competant hands this story could have been a home run.

More Wonderful Writing, Story Could Be Better........2007-06-20

One must be humble in criticizing this Great American Writer, since without question Mr. Updike is a Modern Master. This yarn is filled with terrific descriptions of a modern day urban high school, and its jaded teachers and students. For this alone, it may be worth the read. A youthful senior, part Irish/ part Muslim, meets some seemingly harmless mullahs, and appears to believe some of their unusual ideas. Sub-plots include a well meaning teacher, a kind and credulous girlfriend, and the standard (in this case, not very explicit, fortunately) adulterous affair. Will this nice boy actually commit a horrific terrorist act? The plot thickens, as he trucks his way into the Lincoln Tunnel and the Big City. I will not reveal the ending!

Elephant House: Or, The Home of Edward Gorey

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Amazing
Inside Edward Gorey's house...
Not MUST HAVE, but definitely NICE to have
A specialty item for the true Gorey collector
Fruitful Coursework

Elephant House: Or, The Home of Edward Gorey

Manufacturer: Pomegranate Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey
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ASIN: 0764924958

Book Description

An intimate photographic journey through Edward Gorey's home.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-04-10

That's really all I can say. I have been waiting for this book for a long time, and it was the most incredible thing. Amazing photos. Read up on Gorey first, though. The details are some much better when you get the little visual jokes Gorey set up in his day-to-day life.

Inside Edward Gorey's house..........2006-02-01

If you are an Ogdred Weary fan...this is a truly wonderful book. Photographs of the exterior (peeling paint and kind of saggy porch) and the interior rooms of the house on Cape Cod in Gorey lived and worked, along with his cats and figbashes, piles of thousands of books, assorted rocks and oddish things, and the expected miriad of curiosities. Alas, or delightfully...just the environment one would expect of the eccentric Edward. A cabinet of curiosities...a delight!

Not MUST HAVE, but definitely NICE to have.......2005-09-10

This book wouldn't mean much to anyone who isn't already a Gorey fan. I own (and love) the compilations 'Amphigorey', 'Amphigorey Too' & 'Amphogorey Also', so have a head start. I also have the auto(?) biography 'Ascending Peculiarity', which is almost a necessary co-requisite to this book - it helps explain the cats, and many other Gorey details. Now that the individual books are available again, I'm tempted to get them too, because they are such nice objects - but only if the kids promise to share with me!

A specialty item for the true Gorey collector.......2004-04-05

Even dedicated fans of Edward Gorey will probably know very little about his personal life: he was an enigmatic recluse and few were permitted past his front door. Photographer Kevin McDermott's Elephant House will delight students of architecture and photography, providing rich duotone works of Gorey's intriguing home and its contents. A specialty item for the true Gorey collector, Elephant House is an impressive photographic showcase and a welcome addition to both architectural studies and photographic studies reference collections.

Fruitful Coursework.......2003-12-16

M. McDermott's luxuriant photos admirably capture the subversive hermeneutics of desire at work in every compartment of Edward Gorey's capacious mind. To judge from these photos, at home as much as in his work Gorey enacted a subaltern erotics of duplicity and dialectic: the precise, almost fussy, arrangements of salt shakers and stones, frog spectators and secret guests which echo the Edwardian-styled detail of his famous books and their ecstatic decodification of heterosexual longing into a polysemous weave of interleaved multitextuality illuminate a life's work spent dancing on a metacritical pin. Queer and gender theorists take note: Elephant House will reinvigorate your every critique -- about Edward Gorey and his work, and of course, the texts his prism redacts.

The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics)

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Powerful, indeed
Despair is the unforgivable sin
A Bold and Unlikely Masterpiece
The Whiskey Priest: Hero or Failure?
A Sublte Construction

The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics)
Graham Greene
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142437301
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Amazon.com

How does good spoil, and how can bad be redeemed? In his penetrating novel The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene explores corruption and atonement through a priest and the people he encounters. In the 1930s one Mexican state has outlawed the Church, naming it a source of greed and debauchery. The priests have been rounded up and shot by firing squad--save one, the whisky priest. On the run, and in a blur of alcohol and fear, this outlaw meets a dentist, a banana farmer, and a village woman he knew six years earlier. For a while, he is accompanied by a toothless man--whom he refers to as his Judas and does his best to ditch. Always, an adamant lieutenant is only a few hours behind, determined to liberate his country from the evils of the church.

On the verge of reaching a safer region, the whisky priest is repeatedly held back by his vocation, even though he no longer feels fit to perform his rites: "When he was gone it would be as if God in all this space between the sea and the mountains ceased to exist. Wasn't it his duty to stay, even if they despised him, even if they were murdered for his sake? even if they were corrupted by his example?"

As his sins and dangers increase, the broken priest comes to confront the nature of piety and love. Still, when he is granted a reprieve, he feels himself sliding into the old arrogance, slipping it on like the black gloves he used to wear. Greene has drawn this man--and all he encounters--vividly and viscerally. He may have said The Power and the Glory was "written to a thesis," but this brilliant theological thriller has far more mysteries--and troubling ideals--than certainties. --Joannie Kervran Stangeland

Book Description

In a poor, remote section of southern Mexico, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest strives to overcome physical and moral cowardice in order to find redemption.

Introduction by John Updike

Customer Reviews:

Powerful, indeed.......2007-05-02

"The Power and the Glory" takes place in the 1930s in a Mexican province where the Catholic Church and its priests have been outlawed for eight years. Only one man, known only as the whisky priest, remains. He is constantly on the run from the police lieutenant who pursues him relentlessly. At its simplest, this is the story of that pursuit. But, in reality, there are layers upon layers of depth to this story. The priests who have refused to deny their calling, marry, and become ordinary citizens, have been put to death by the authorities and have become martyrs for their cause. The whisky priest sees himself as unworthy of such martyrdom (as certainly most martyrs do) because he views himself a coward, drunkard, and sinner who is unrepentant of his greatest sin, fathering an illegimate daughter that he loves above all else. At times, he rails against the people he serves, believing them to be the reason that his life is in danger, but clearly he loves these people and seeks to bring the sacraments to them for whatever small consolation they may provide for their lives. He is contrasted with Padre Jose who, in order to save his own life, conceded to the authorities, renounced his calling, married, and has become a mockery not only to others, but to himself. The lieutenant pursues the whisky priest out of a personal grudge against the Church, which he saw as a child as the oppressor that kept the common people down and subservient. He is a true believer in the revolution and, like the priest, genuinely loves the people. He can't understand why the people continue to turn to religion when he wants to offer them so much more in the here and now. If the revolution could actually deliver on those promises, the people might, indeed, support the revolutionaries, but the lieutenant apparently fails to see that the revolution has failed so far to deliver anything economically, emotionally, or spiritually to replace what solace the people were able to draw from the Church. Ironically, the two enemies, the priest and the lieutenant, are also the only two people who can truly understand one another.

While this story is as bleak as the landscape within which it is set, what redeems it from being unrelentingly depressing are the glimpses we see of how the human soul manages to find the necessary fragments of hope and consolation to allow us to keep living from day to day, sometimes from moment to moment. Whether the whisky priest finds the absolution he seeks is left to us to determine, although we devoutly hope he does because his quest is that of all human hearts.

Graham Greene wrote this book after a month-long visit to Mexico, which is also recounted in nonfiction form in his travel book, "The Lawless Roads." "The Power and the Glory" ranks among the top ten books I've read. The title could be applied to the writing as well. This book totally embodies what great literature is all about. It deserves to be considered a Classic.

Despair is the unforgivable sin.......2007-03-22

The setting is Mexico, during the revolution. Ex-patriots and priests are particularly disenfranchised in the commotion. One of the characters is a wanted man, an American criminal. Another is the whisky priest. Eventually that priest and a Padre Jose, a fat and married ex-priest, are the only religious workers left in the country.

Padre Jose is asked to say a prayer for a dead child and he refuses. He also refuses to house the whisky priest when that man has no other place to seek refuge. The whisky priest is being pursued by the authorities because it is treason to celebrate the rites of the church. He learns that the police officers are taking hostages from the village he has visited. His presence in the village is surmised when his cache of alcohol is found.

Captain Fellows is one of the foreigners. He has a banana plantation. His daughter Cora carries food and drink to the priest. Since the police are going south, the priest is directed to head north. In another village when the place is surrounded, the authorities are misdirected and the whisky priest escapes detection through the words of his own child.

The priest discovers that he has committed the sin of pride. Finally he is arrested by a Red Shirt, but only for disturbing the peace. After accomplishing some tasks he is released the following day. In the crowded cell he discloses his identity. He is chided by a fellow prisoner, a very religious woman, for his seeming careless act since they are in the midst of murderers and thieves. In the end, he is tricked by someone who wishes to claim the reward for his capture. He is told that the wanted American, a bank robber, is dying and wishes absolution. The whisky priest, although sensing a trap, goes to the man and grants him conditional absolution.

The book is especially strong in terms of atmosphere. Being sought for treason puts the victim of the search into an existential crisis.

A Bold and Unlikely Masterpiece.......2007-02-19

The "theological thriller" is a category that sounds improbable, but then all great works of art are improbable. In 1940 Graham Greene published what is considered his masterwork "The Power and the Glory", set during Mexico's anti-clerical purges of the 1930's.

Hunted like a fox, the last of priest in a remote state in southern Mexico is the central character in this powerful Christian parable. The huntsman is a proper and correct police lieutenant who is beautifully described as a "small glass of God's love in a bucket of ditch-water." The lieutenant has replaced devotion to the church with duty to the state as his religion. His passion drives him to the point of near fanaticism.

As a religious parable the books is as bold as it is improbable. While we know that brave priests have been murdered for the cause they held dear, the self-described "whisky priest" is not one of them. The martyred priests are nameless abstracts who exist only on the periphery of the story. Flawed and miserable humans take center stage: the mocked Father Jose, the terrified villagers, the drunken and cruel political functionaries. In the midst of this human stain, is the whisky priest. He is a simple man, and as tragically flawed as the rest. An alcoholic coward, he has slipped in despair more than once. Yet convinced of his own damnation, he carries on with his priestly duties despite the hoof beats of the police behind him.

With the exhaustion of the hunted pressing down on him, the priest has abandoned the "innecessities" of church ritual but not his duty to the church. Even when he suspects that his sense of duty is fueled by self-importance rather than love of God.

Greene gathered material while covering the real purges of his travel book, "The Lawless Roads" (1938); this is one of the great books of the 20th century, written by one of its literary masters. The book was condemned by the Vatican for its focus on the misery of the human condition and soul as well as that of persecuted priest. It is no more anti-Catholic than saying that Catholics, priests and all, are no more or less human than anyone else.

The Whiskey Priest: Hero or Failure?.......2006-10-28

Graham Greene presents the story of a priest and his trials and tribulations in a Mexican Socialist state where Catholicism has been outlawed, priests are executed, and the mere possession of a religious article results in imprisonment and hard labor. In the midst of this turmoil we find a self-professed "whisky priest", the last priest in his state, on the run from authorities. The state has turned its peasants against the church through propaganda and terror. The current reality for the priest is one where most shun him and refuse to help. And when he does have the opportunity to perform a religious ritual, there must be constant surveillance of the police, for once in police custody he will be shot.

Greene does a brilliant job of allowing the reader to enter the priest's innermost thoughts. This is not a typically pious priest. He is a drinker, a fornicator, and an absentee father. He comes to grip with the reality that he is a "bad priest" and laments the fact that he cannot do more to help. Indeed, he realizes that it was his pride and sense of self-importance that prevented him from leaving the hostile state. He is filled with self-doubt and self-loathing. Even as he awaits his execution, he never considers himself a martyr, but merely a failure who will meet God with "empty hands."

However, the priest may be too self-critical. His religious duties and devotions are a powerful force that brings him back into harm's way when the opportunity to escape persecution is open to him. Indeed, after an arduous journey across the rain-soaked jungle mountains into a safe state, he nevertheless journeys back into the hostile state to hear the confession of a murderer he has never met, knowing full well that this is a trap from which he will not escape. It is this sense of duty and inevitable death that lifts the priest above the morality of the villagers and his captors. Although he may not be a typical martyr or saint, he does hold considerable power with those he meets, although he may not realize it. Indeed, this "whiskey priest" has changed the lives, subtly or directly, of scores of people he has encountered.

Although Greene, a devout Catholic, portrays the priest an imperfect sinner, I would not call this book anti-Catholic, as did his contemporaries in the church. The priest is certainly not perfect, and has fathered a child, but he can still be a useful minion of God. Greene shows that even those with weaknesses and past sins can still achieve glory in life. Through the eyes of others, Greene shows how this self-loathing priest has done more than he could ever imagine.

Overall, this is a superb book and a fine addition to any reading list.

A Sublte Construction.......2006-10-18

The characters in this story are full of contradictions, especially the priest, but his great virtue is that he knows this. As his character is humbled and stripped down, step by step deconstructed, and as he is less able to hide himself from himself, flashes of brilliant humanity begin to emerge in descriptive conversation that is a gift to experience.

What IF you love the sin, or the product of it? Is it possible to repent of something you can't be truly sorry for? These are the sorts of questions that plague this character, and the sorts of questions it takes an author like Greene have us ask.

In Greene's work, there is a vein of holy struggle
that one needn't be religious to understand. I love to read books by authors which mine this very personal territory. Chaim Potok is another.

I loaned this book to a friend who took a little issue with the ending. He felt that it was anti-climactic, but I guess this is where people differ. The anti-climactic ending was satisfying to me. I don't require a large *bang* of an impact, and feel that it would have undermined the book to give it such. It would have made it feel like a fairy tale, which would have been out of step.

-Stephanie

The Best American Short Stories of the Century (The Best American Series)

Average customer rating:

A good effort
Very Well Done
Grand American tales of the nineteen hundreds
NOT THE BEST
Best American short storiesof the Century

The Best American Short Stories of the Century (The Best American Series)

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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75 Short Masterpieces

ASIN: 0395843677

Amazon.com

At age 67, the perennially youthful John Updike may at last qualify as something of an elder statesman. But the Best American Short Stories annual--whose greatest hits package Updike has now assembled--is almost a generation older, having commenced publication in 1915. This staying power allows the hefty Best American Short Stories of the Century to perform double duty. It is, on the one hand, a priceless compendium of American manners and morals--a decade-by-decade survey of how we lived then, and how we live now. Yet Updike very consciously avoided the sociological angle in making his selection. "I tried not to select stories because they illustrated a theme or portion of the national experience," he writes in his introduction, "but because they struck me as lively, beautiful, believable, and, in the human news they brought, important." In this he succeeded: the 55 fictions that made the grade are most notable for their human (rather than merely historical) interest.

So who got in? There are a good number of cut-and-dried classics here, including Hemingway's "The Killers," Faulkner's "That Evening Sun Go Down," and Philip Roth's acidic spin on religious connivance, "Defender of the Faith." In other cases, major authors are represented by relatively minor works. Yet it's hard to quibble with the inclusion of Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, J.F. Powers, Eudora Welty--particularly when you take into account that their second-tier creations are fully the equal of anybody else's masterpieces. And the final third of the book really does constitute an honor roll of contemporary American fiction, with brilliant entries by Saul Bellow, Donald Barthelme, Raymond Carver, Tim O'Brien, Bernard Malamud, Cynthia Ozick, John Cheever, and Vladimir Nabokov. (For the latter, Updike actually succumbed to his own idolatry and bent the rules for admission--but nobody who reads the hallucinatory "That in Aleppo Once..." will regret it.) It goes without saying that fiction fans will be complaining about the editor's sins of omission well into the next century. But no matter how you slice it, this remains an elegant and essential advertisement for the short form. --James Marcus

Book Description

Since the series' inception in 1915, the annual volumes of The Best American Short Stories have launched literary careers, showcased the most compelling stories of each year, and confirmed for all time the significance of the short story in our national literature. Now THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES OF THE CENTURY brings together the best -- fifty-six extraordinary stories that represent a century's worth of unsurpassed achievements in this quintessentially American literary genre. This expanded edition includes a new story from The Best American Short Stories 1999 to round out the century, as well as an index including every story published in the series. Of all the writers whose work has appeared in the series, only John Updike has been represented in each of the last five decades, from his first appearance, in 1959, to his most recent, in 1998. Updike worked with coeditor Katrina Kenison to choose the finest stories from the years since 1915. The result is "extraordinary . . . A one-volume literary history of this country's immeasurable pains and near-infinite hopes" (Boston Globe).

Customer Reviews:

A good effort.......2007-06-20

I read "The Best American Short Stories of the Century" to get a broad overview of the contemporary American short story genre. John Updike edited the collection. The introduction, written by Updike, is an interesting essay on the difficulties inherent in assembling any best-of collection. I suppose I would have liked to have read more of his thoughts on the form, its progress over the century and perhaps its place in contemporary fiction rather than his struggle in selecting pieces. But taken together with the forward, written by co-editor Katrina Kenison, the two essays offer an interesting look into the fickleness of publishing tastes and how those tastes can be influenced by only a few people. It makes the current consolidation of the publishing world seem slightly less troubling.

In any event, there are many people I would have included in the collection that are absent--John Edger Wideman comes quickly to mind, and Latino writers seem strikingly absent. And similarly, though I would not even pretend to know all that one needs to know to authoritatively assemble a collection with such a presumptuous title, I would nonetheless exclude more than one or two pieces that were included in the anthology. But as I reflect on the collection, it occurs to me that it was written more for the general reading public and less for a person interested in the diversity of the form and its practitioners. There are some great stories in the collection, however, I suspect that it more closely represents a particular writer's tastes than a true overview of the form.

The most interesting pieces for me were those written by writers who I associate with other genres. Robert Penn Warren's "Christmas Gift" is a beautifully raw and sensual story. And although it has been some years since I've read Warren's work, my vision of him was always that of a country gentlemen poet living the gentlemanly life in semi-rural Connecticut. The "Christmas Gift" rivals Faulkner or O'Connor in the evocation of the rough-knuckled rural life. The language of the piece and the structure of the lines felt fresh and new. The images were so unique and evocative that I must make a point not to mimic them in my own writing. The opening paragraph is wonderful, his attention to the details of the place and its people comes out with poetic precision that is at once authentic for the place and yet far, far above the circumstances of anybody involved. In this sense it brought to mind Steinbeck (another writer who didn't make the cut) yet his prose seemed even more carefully measured.

I have always admired E.B. White's essays and now, after having read the short story, "The Second Tree from the Corner," I have come to appreciate his abilities as a fiction writer. It has inspired me to track down some of his fiction--other than that written for children, though those stories are also good. "The Second Tree from the Corner" was somewhat unexpected. It's a decidedly non-country story--a far cry from many of the essays I have read. Its protagonist is a patient who is undergoing therapy--another surprise. However when I think about many of his essays, even the most well known essays written at the height of the war, essays that were intended to bring some measure of comfort to a society and culture that could not escape the general sense that they were indeed fighting for their very survival, I still find in these essays a certain sense of existential angst, of an uncertainty that seems thoroughly modern and non-sentimental.

When I hear people talk about White's well-known essay, "Once More to the Lake," it seems almost as though the last lines are forgotten. There is so much talk of lake weather, farm-girls, and berry pies that that final line seems to somehow not stick to memory. But what a line--the entire piece is informed by that last line. The last two paragraphs keep the essay from become a simple, shallow reflection on the American way of life. It was almost as though, despite the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese Emperor, White could not help but feel almost desperately modern. When he wrote, "As he buckled the swollen belt, suddenly my groin felt the chill of death," he rescued the essay from the slash pile of Americana.

And just as he rescued "Once More to the Lake," he may have condemned "The Second Tree from the Corner." Though it is a good short story, it is not at all the warm and fuzzy piece that some may expect from White. And again, in the story White waits to put the last nail in the emotional structure of the piece, which could until the final line go in any one of a number of directions. The final direction of the piece is not nearly as comfortable as it perhaps could be. He closes: "He crossed the Madison, boarded the downtown bus, and rode all the way to Fifty-second Street before he had a thought that could rightly have been called bizarre."

We never discover the nature of his bizarre thoughts, we are left to fill them in with our own interpretation of the strange, never the less, the piece is far from conclusive or comforting.

Similarly, I was impressed with Elizabeth Bishop's "The Farmer's Children." Again I am familiar with her essays and of course her poetry, but I had never before read one of her short stories.

There were also stories by writers whom I have never before read, at least as far as I can remember. Susan Glaspell's 1917 story, "A Jury of her Peers," was impressively fresh and full of a very modern sense of feminism. Grace Stone Coates', "Wild Plums," was an emotionally complex story about class in the early years of the Great Depression.

I did not find what I wanted in the collection--that is, an overview of the contemporary American short story form. I suspect that there is no easy or fast way to come to such an understanding. Maybe that has something to do with the nature of the short story, like the personal essay it is a constantly shifting form, something that responds quickly to contemporary pressures, but also somehow stays true to its form as laid down by Chekhov (or in the case of the essay, Montaign).

I did find some things I did not expect in the collection. And thought I confess that I did not like some of the stories in the and found myself questioning why they were included at the expense of other writers, it was a worthwhile read.

Very Well Done.......2007-06-14

To reduce the boredom of exercise I decided to listen to audio books. Short stories work well as I'm inclined to keep moving until the end.

This audio CD collection is very good and really well done. Many of the stories are read by their authors. The sound is crisp and clean, and (with rare exception) the diction fluid and natural. The stories themselves are varied and high-quality.

One thing to note, though, is that the audio version does not contain all the stories from the print version. That may seem obvious, but if you are expecting to hear one or anther of the stories from the book, know that the CD set only includes 22 stories.

Grand American tales of the nineteen hundreds.......2007-03-24

The quintessential in the American short story is represented in this collection of fiction. I am reading these tales both for the pleasure they bring me and as a means of studying the craft of masters in a field I hope to enter. As part of my fiction class at the University of Iowa, I have read "Janus" and "Where are you going, Where have you been?" (Beattie and Oates).

These two tales explore the psyches of two women: one a successful married realtor obsessed who owns an artistic bowl that assumes a character of its own and, the other, a young girl who becomes a victim of her and others' obsession with her beauty.

Lesser-known authors are represented alongside the giants of American literature. Points of view representing various walks of life, ethnicities, languages and periods of time abound in the volume. For my own pleasure and out of curiosity, I have read "Zelig," a tale about a lonely man obsessed with saving his money, torn between his new home in America and his native Russian village (Rosenblatt).

Ann Beattie, Joyce Carol Oates and Benjamin Rosenblatt are authors whose works I have relished so far from the collection, and because the stories are so intricately woven, I find myself re-reading them, delaying the pleasure awaiting me in the remaining fifty plus tales.

NOT THE BEST.......2007-01-30

I AM A FAN OF BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES SERIES, BUT I DID NOT ENJOY THE STORIES CHOSEN HERE. I STARTED AT THE BEGINNING, TRIED THE END, FLIPPED THROUGH A FEW IN THE MIDDLE AND FOUND THEM DISAPPOINTING. THIS SERIES WOULD DO BETTER WITH MORE THAN ONE EDITOR TO MAKE THE FINAL CHOICES.

Best American short storiesof the Century.......2007-01-04

I really didn't like this selection of stories even if they have been assembled John Updike. They were too morose, unhappy, too long and sometimes obscure. John Updike is my favorite author. He could have put together a few upbeat or silly stories in amongst the gloom.

Richard DeRycke

Average customer rating:

Kafka's Complete Shorter Works
Kafka had it right
not bad, maybe kind of superfluous
An avid student's perspective
A review of the book, not the author.

The Complete Stories
Franz Kafka
Manufacturer: Schocken
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Diaries of Franz Kafka (Schocken Classics Series)

ASIN: 0805210555
Release Date: 1995-11-14

Amazon.com

How many writers get their own adjective? The work of this terminally alienated master narrator of the subconscious demanded a new descriptor; I guess they gave up and just settled on "Kafkaesque." But if you ever wonder what the original Kafkaesque work was, take a look here. The book contains all of Kafka's short and longer stories -- everything but his three novels. Most of these stories weren't even published during the author's lifetime. The widely-anthologized The Metamorphosis is here, wherein Gregor Samsa awakes from uneasy dreams to find himself insectoidally transformed, as are equally lovely pieces like A Hunger Artist, A Country Doctor and A Little Woman.

Book Description

The only available collection that brings together all of Kafka's stories--those published during his lifetime and those released after his death.

Customer Reviews:

Kafka's Complete Shorter Works.......2007-04-11

This book contains almost all of Kafka's literary works, save his full length novels.

Kafka's writing is representative for a large portion of modern literature. Although one can classify his works as dealing with alienation, assimilation, inferiority, and insecurities, they are, on some level, impenetrable by interpretors. His prose is clear and easily readeable; however, the implications of his story remain troubelsome and confounding.

Kafka's writing style betrays expected norms of literature. In the metamorphisis, the protaganist Gregor Samsa awakens from his sleep to find himself changed into a beetle. The story is about the ramifications of the event, and the expected pinnacle, his transformation itself, is barely attended too. Furthermore, Samsa seems to take his transformation in stride. He recognizes the uniqueness of his case, but thoughts of his own insanity, nor the impossibility of the situation are hardly voiced. By giving us the absurd and simultaneously sidelining it, Kafka is able to focus on other issues. Samsa's "otherness" as a beetle, now being an existential given, leads us to explore how being "other" works in relationship to family and other acquantices.

Kafka is a truly marvelous writer, and if his writing seem paranoid and absurd, it adds to their literary quality. His concerns are not so unique as the positions his literary creations often find themselves in, and he provides an interesting voice on the conditions of modernity.

Kafka had it right.......2006-12-13

This is the most authoritative collection of Kafka's immortal short fiction; it includes the most respected translations of each story (mostly by Willa and Edwin Muir), and a fair introduction from John Updike.

Kafka was the greatest writer of short fiction of the modern era. Such stories as 'The Metamorphosis,' 'In the Penal Colony,' 'The Hunger Artist,' and 'The Great Wall of China' encapsulate the tyrannical, dehumanizing regimentation of the modern world. Kafka may be difficult to read, and the allegorical form is not enjoyable for everyone. However, it is impossible to not be drawn into the strange madness of 'The Hunger Artist,' or 'The Country Doctor,' surely two of the most terrifying works of literature of the period.

In many ways, Kafka was a precursor to the sort of self-reflexive artistry that would later be found in Beckett, Sartre, and Brecht; Kafka is always aware that he is working within the literary realm, and he knows that he cannot escape it. Therefore, (brilliantly), he turns it into an advantage, by intoning the mystical, the metaphysical, and the surreal. His characters are often animals, metaphors, or simply moods. This approach has its strengths, but only in the hands of a true master. Fortunately for us, Kafka was just that, in the truest sense: a master of form, and unity of content.

not bad, maybe kind of superfluous.......2006-08-16

I've had this Kafka volume for about six months now and I've enjoyed it thoroughly. The Metamophosis alone warrants high marks, but this collection thankfully includes countless stories from the breadth of Kafka's career, in essence providing context for his most famous work.

I can't corroborate reports of binding issues, mind has lasted perfectly. There's not much one can say about Kafka that has not already been said, really. The avid fan will, however, appreciate the depth of this volume, which, if anything, helps to better elucidate the contents of the Metamorphosis itself, an indispensible story that seems, at times, a bit obfuscated.

An avid student's perspective.......2005-12-16

As a student of the German language, I must say that I view this text from a different perspective than most of its other readers. I selected this book merely to give me a broader understanding of Kafka's work in the short time available to me. It is an infinitely useful resource, gracefully translated and sturdily bound. I give it four stars simply because no English translation could possibly compare to the original German texts. For example, the German word "Gesetz" is translated "law" in the foundational parable "Before the Law." Though it is a literally accurate term, it does not capture the sense of the Gesetz as a semi-personal metaphysical absolute concerning the condition of the Universe. ("Gesetz" is something of a German equivalent for the Greek "Logos" with a capital "L".) Such slight aberrations are certainly common as they are an ineluctable consequence of translation; this aside, it is an excellent text that will always sit next to my German edition on the shelf of Modern Literature.

A review of the book, not the author........2005-12-11

Let me preface this very negative review with this: I love Kafka. He's a great author and the shortcomings of this book, this book in particular, are not his.

That said, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Whatever archaic methods the publisher, Schocken, uses to bind its books is in desperate need of revitalization. Within 1 week of purchasing this book it was threatening to fall to pieces. Within 2 weeks it became 4 volumes--it yet threatens to break into a weekly series.

If you enjoy breaking the binding on your paperbacks for easy reading beware, this book is poorly bound and breaking the binding, or even opening it much past 180 degrees, will cause the book to break asunder.

Buy these stories, just don't buy them in this book. Look elsewhere even if you must buy 2 or 3 other books to get everything.

Average customer rating:

Mr. Thoreau's Work: Walden
A beautiful guide to life and nature.
Discover what is truly important
An essay on life
An experiment, some observations , and a powerful message

Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)
Henry David Thoreau
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691096120

Book Description

Originally published in 1854, Walden, or Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature.</p>

This new paperback edition--introduced by noted American writer John Updike--celebrates the 150th anniversary of this classic work. Much of Walden's material is derived from Thoreau's journals and contains such engaging pieces as "Reading" and "The Pond in the Winter." Other famous sections involve Thoreau's visits with a Canadian woodcutter and with an Irish family, a trip to Concord, and a description of his bean field. This is the complete and authoritative text of Walden--as close to Thoreau's original intention as all available evidence allows.</p>

For the student and for the general reader, this is the ideal presentation of Thoreau's great document of social criticism and dissent.</p>

Customer Reviews:

Mr. Thoreau's Work: Walden.......2007-04-22

It looks like I rated it 4 stars. I can't seem to change that. I really meant to rate it a 3.

Fortunately, I read The Annotated Walden, annotated by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Thank goodness I chose it. Without Mr. Van Doren Stern's introduction, side bars, pictures and comments, I think I would have been thoroughly lost.

I have to agree with a few of the reviewers who stated how pompous Thoreau sounds; he does. He tries to act superior,only to have the side bar notations state something different; something that a friend mentioned. For example, he says he "could easily do without the post-office," yet a contemporary, Sanborne, is quoted off to the side of the annotated version as having said about this quote: "Few residents of Concord frequented the Post Office more punctually or read the newspapers more eagerly than Thoreau."

He contradicts himself constantly. He mocks people who don't read, and then says he barely read a few pages of one book in the two years he was at Walden pond. He could be vindictive; lashing out at Flint's Pond (and Mr. Flint) because Flint would not let him build a cabin on his pond. He comes off as a snob, saying most men learn to read only as a necessity; for work, to add up their profits. But *true* readers are hard to come by. "I aspire to be acquainted with wiser men than this Concord soil has produced.."

Yet, he also has some really great words of wisdom. He questions the wisdom in working so hard during the best part of your life (youth) only to spend the fruits of your labor "during the least valuable part of it." Enjoy life while you are young. Why work so hard when the endgame is death? He comments on things that are still true to this day; fashion and our obsession with appearance. Work to provide for yourself, not to overburden yourself and keep yourself in debt.

Someone reviewing this book on Amazon wrote that it was a failed experiment; that he meant to live in the woods as a hermit of sorts and failed miserably to do so. That was never the extent of his experiment. He never says he's going to lead a solitary life. He states he visited the village every day or two. "As I walked in the woods to see birds and squirrels, so I walked in the village to see men and boys."

I find myself having mixed feelings regarding this book. He is so contradictory, but then, so am I. He can be judgemental and then he can be spot-on. It was a difficult book to get through, Again, had I not had the annotated version, I would have been truly lost. He frustrated me at times. I was not reading literature. I was reading someone's diary that often went off-tangent (like this review). Is it Top 100 book worthy? My opinion: no. It was good at times, painful at others. I took 2 months to trudge through it, all the while reading 5 other books just to keep me going. I am glad I read it. I won't do it again though. Sorry, Mr. Thoroeau

A beautiful guide to life and nature........2007-03-24

Walden is so beautifully written, and the issues are still relevant today. To me it is a guide for how to live in harmony with nature. I think if you are a naturalist or an aspiring naturalist this book is a must have. This book touches more on spiritual aspects than any religeous scripture I have ever read. Even 150 years ago Thoreau looked at the trends and knew what was coming. Today I don't think that anyone with any sense would argue that in an era of 200 different shampoos that all do the same thing,we cannot sustain this pace and will deplete all of the resources and pollute all our lands,if we continue. Live small and ecologically sound was the message and a great one it was.

Discover what is truly important.......2007-03-12

Thoreau moved into the woods at Walden pond in Concord. However the book isnt about living in the woods. Its about stepping outside of "civilization" so that he could look at it objectively. From his perspective you see how much of the worlds misery is just stuff we bring on ourselves. like the following:
" I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of."
He goes on to explain how once we have the items we need to maintain them, improve them, and in the end we end up slaves to the things we own. He looks at how we spend every waking day storing up treasures to mold or rust in a treasure room.
He then goes on to look into what work is actually needed to sustain our lives. Once he has discovered this, he is amazed at the mountains of free time he has left. He uses that time to get to know the wolrd that we live in. Sort of in a "Song of Myself" sort of way.
In the end this book was an inspiration to me personaly, to leave the fast paced chase of the dollar for a more relaxed and less stressfull life style. Now I chase waves and try to help out in my community. I find that I have tons of free time, and I don't even feel guilty if I waste it lying on the beach.
Its not the sort of book that you get in the first read through, you will find yourself at the office or in a meeting and suddenly a passage from the book will pop into your head and suddenly it will make sense.
I know this review is a little touchy feely, but if you read this book, and understand its message. It is a key to a secret club where you realize that "Hand Scraped solid Manchurian Walnut Floors" are in the end just flooring. And the truth is that Artisan Tibetan vase that you bought for such a fortune will one day be sold at a garage sale for a couple of bucks.
Its a book that looks at the silliness that we take so seriously. I highly recommend this book to anybody, but especialy if you are doing well but still not happy. Buy this book.

An essay on life.......2007-01-24

I agree with a previous poster that Thoreau comes across as arrogant throughout the book, but he makes some striking observations on humanity, civilization, the pursuit of wealth, and enjoying nature. This is a book that everyone should read at some point in their life, preferably sooner rather than later. It is thought-provoking and entertaining.

An experiment, some observations , and a powerful message.......2007-01-12

This book has some great quotes about life. In one sense it seems like a postive thinking book. It suggests we reawaken ourselves. It tells us to live deliberately. He points out that life is frittered away by detail. He tells us to be philosophers rather than professors of philosophy. He points out that most men lead lives of quite desperation.

Those are some of the things that I underlined and like to re read. The backdrop to all these great ideas is his time spent in the woods. He did retire from society for a while. He did make a lot of very detailed observations about nature. It felt like being in the woods. The experiences, in some ways, reminded me of my own time in the woods but in many ways they seemed like very different and new experiences.

In the end he says he that he left the woods for as good a reason as for which he went there. I was not conviced of that claim. To assume that he he just went to the woods to record the experience and use the time to to offer his complaints about society is just not enough to explain this book. Somehow both approaches complimented each other.

The book is well worth reading. After reading the book brings you back to find a quote your thinking about and to better understand the quote.

Rabbit Angstrom : The Four Novels : Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit Is Rich, Rabbit at Rest (Everyman's Library)

Average customer rating:

When a novel becomes a friend
a labor of love...
I did it!
Writing that constantly amazes
Great, great books

Rabbit Angstrom : The Four Novels : Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit Is Rich, Rabbit at Rest (Everyman's Library)
John Updike
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679444599
Release Date: 1995-10-17

Book Description

When we first met him in Rabbit, Run (1960), the book that established John Updike as a major novelist, Harry (Rabbit) Angstrom is playing basketball with some boys in an alley in Pennsylvania during the tail end of the Eisenhower era, reliving for a moment his past as a star high school athlete. Athleticism of a different sort is on display throughout these four magnificent novels—the athleticism of an imagination possessed of the ability to lay bare, with a seemingly effortless animal grace, the enchantments and disenchantments of life.

Updike revisited his hero toward the end of each of the following decades in the second half of this American century; and in each of the subsequent novels, as Rabbit, his wife, Janice, his son, Nelson, and the people around them grow, these characters take on the lineaments of our common existence. In prose that is one of the glories of contemporary literature, Updike has chronicled the frustrations and ambiguous triumphs, the longuers, the loves and frenzies, the betrayals and reconciliations of our era. He has given us our representative American story.

Customer Reviews:

When a novel becomes a friend.......2007-04-23

There is always that sad feeling at the end of a great character-based novel. It's as if you just got to know and love someone and they vanish. This series is spectacular for so many reasons, but I particularly love how well I know Rabbit by now (I'm in the 3rd book), as if he were a friend of many years. Updike does an impressive job of weaving details throughout the entire series that makes the reader understand, and believe.

a labor of love..........2006-08-31

as a primarily non-fiction reader, i was drawn to the rabbit series by the NYT list of top fiction novels of all time.. I decided to give Mr. Updike a try, and lugged around this behemoth of a series!

updike's novels are interesting especially when you consider the historical context of the times in which they were written. for example, his references to sex and overt sexual language were highly controversil at the time of his writing.

Reading the series allows you a seat of the passenger train of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, each which their overriding "isms". An enjoyable read.

I did it!.......2006-01-02

I have to admit it: finishing this 1500 page tome, which consist of the four Harry (Rabbit) Angstrom novels, each longer than the one before it ("Rabbit Run," "Rabbit Redux," "Rabbit is Rich," and "Rabbit at Rest"), gave me a sense of accomplishment. Updike is a truly great writer, but his prose can be ponderous at times, particularly in "Rabbit Run." Some of these characters, including Rabbit himself, can be quite frustrating, especially over the course of four books.

Updike's placement as one of the greatest American writers of the last half of the twentieth century, stems from, I believe, his descriptive abilities, whether it be describing the flora in a garden, typical patter on a golf course, sexual scenes, or an angioplasty procedure. The books are spaced ten years apart in time, and Updike does a nice job setting each in the context of its time, although I'm not so sure these novels work as a "time capsule" in that the characters are only peripherally involved in, or concerned with, the seminal events of those eras. Most of the characters don't really change all that much, with the notable exception of Janice, Rabbit's wife, whose character blossoms with each consecutive book. Rabbit, himself, always remains sex and death obsessed, understandably more of the latter as he grows older. He does grow on the reader, though, even after making one poor choice after another. In "Rabbit at Rest," we finally see Rabbit have a relationship based on pure love: that with his grand-daughter Judy.

If you're interested, I reviewed each book separately on this web-site, giving "Rabbit Run" three stars, and the other three books four stars. I believe that consolidating all four into a single volume was worthwhile, since there are so many references to past incidents of which which the reader would not be aware, unless s/he has read the prior Rabbit novel(s). Based on the events that are recalled, sometimes it seemed as if Rabbit has spent his life in a cave, only to emerge every ten years for a few months to experience some traumatic event chronicled in the four books that comprise this series.

Updike's introduction is very interesting, in that he's surprisingly revealing about his sources and inspiration. He even provides self-critique and analysis, which is quite rare amongst authors of this caliber.

Writing that constantly amazes.......2005-07-08

I am new to Updike, just finished the 4 Rabbit novels. I was astonished at the writing in these books. The ability to describe common scenes of ordinary life, the continual observations that ring true and make you nod your head while reading put John Updike above any other author I've read.

In my opinion, the best of the Rabbit novels are the first and last. Rabbit Redux was a letdown and the story was not very believable. A couple of things worth mentioning - these novels have a lot of profanity and a lot of explicit, even kinky sex scenes - adultery, swinging, it's all there. Some folks may be offended, despite the great writing.

One thing that took some getting used to - the author often makes very interesting, profound, humorous comments where it's not easily identifiable as coming from the author/narrator or the character. These observations/asides are what really makes the books so terrific. Rabbit himself is a pretty dull guy and it's Updike's genius that makes his story so compelling. There's a line toward the end of the last book that seems to sum up Rabbit as a man. This comment is obviously from the narrator: The smell of good advice always makes Rabbit want to run the other way.

Great, great books.......2003-04-03

Rabbit, Run is one of the best books of the 20th century and once you get into the tragic life of Rabbit Angstrom, you can't turn back. I dont have Updike's gifts for words, so I cannot describe the book accurately enough, but I can say that it is a mistake if you don't read the book. Read it!

Chip Kidd: Book One: Work: 1986-2006 (Chip Kidd)

Average customer rating:

Why are you reading this itstead of buying the book?
FUN COVERS
Excellent book on the process of graphic design.
Inspirational
Stunning

Chip Kidd: Book One: Work: 1986-2006 (Chip Kidd)
Chip Kidd
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0847827852
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Book Description

Described as "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today (USA Today), Chip Kidd is universally recognized as an American master of contemporary book design. At the forefront of a revolution in publishing, Kidd's iconic covers, with their inventive marriage of type and found images, have influenced an entire generation of design practitioners in many fields.Chip Kidd: Book One collects all of his book covers and designs for the first time, as well as hundreds of developmental sketches and concepts-annotated by Kidd and by many of the best-selling authors he's worked with over the years. The result is an important contribution to the design canon today as well as a visually dazzling (and often hilarious) insider's look at the design and publishing process.The book also showcases Kidd's work with comics and graphic novels, including his collaborations with leading artists and writers in the field. Featured are projects for DC Comics, including Batman and Superman, as well as Kidd's award-winning exploration of the art of Charles M. Schulz. Chip Kidd: Book One is sure to enthrall design aficionados, book lovers, pop-culture fanatics, comics fans, and design students.

Customer Reviews:

Why are you reading this itstead of buying the book?.......2006-03-23

This book is bound with a split hardback/softback cover, so if you appreciate design -- which I assume you do since you're considering a compilation of book designs -- the book is worth buying for this odd cover arrangement alone.

FUN COVERS.......2006-01-26

This an excellent ,colorful book with very useful and informative comments,they are also humorous.Kidd mentions that he shows failed designs when he lectures to show that even a successful designer has failures.Unfortunately,in my opinion,the jacket for this volume falls in this category,its clever but not practical.because the cover is split in two parts its an irritation to hold and eventually the cover will be bent when laying down or storing in shelf.Still a must have in this genre.Now how about a Susan Mitchell collection?
ps.i followed my advice and bought the hardcover .Amazing its even more unwieldy,the cover is half hard and half soft,yikes!I ended up buying the soft cover to keep and treat it very carefully ,was that the point of this nutty design?I guess this cover will enter the hall of fame and certainly will be a collectors item if its never opened.Argghh!!!

Excellent book on the process of graphic design........2006-01-16

I highly recommend this book to any graphic designer. He details nearly every cover design, and its great to hear the back story, and see preliminary designs and alternate final designs. Ironically, my only complaint about the book is its cover. I have the paperback edition, the cover only covers half of the book, and this makes flipping through the pages kind of unwieldy. The cuteness of this cover design wears off quickly. It will be interesting to see how he rates this cover in the sequel to this book in 20 years.

Inspirational.......2006-01-11

Chip Kidd is one of those people who makes me think about the work that I do, and inspires me to try to be more creative. Some design lends itself to stealing and there is a tendency to try to emulate styles, but you can't do that with Kidd's work because it is the idea itself which is so fantastic. He manages to find a perfect way to complement the work of the author and create an ideal package. While his work doesn't conform to any particular style, I find that I can easily spot Kidd's covers on a crowded bookstore shelf. (Sometimes his colleague Carol Devine Carson can fake me out with a well designed spine, but I can pretty reliably pick out a "Kidd" 90% of the time. I find that I sometimes buy books on the strengths of his covers alone.)

Kidd makes me try to expand the way I think about what I'm trying to say, and for that reason, this book will be a frequent reference.

Stunning.......2005-11-21

Wow. This book - much like Chip Kidd's design work - is simply stunning. Every page is engaging.

Fortunately, Chip Kidd happens to be a very good writer. There is no ego here, Kidd keeps a sense of humor throughout.

This is a beautiful book for every designer to add to their library. My one suggestion would be to spend a few extra bucks for the hardcover edition...

Average customer rating:

A REALLY good read
Where Updike's Flowers Grow
From Church To The Movies And Back In Four Generations
Religion more powerful than the movies?
Loss of faith

In the Beauty of the Lilies
John Updike
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Brazil

ASIN: 0679446400
Release Date: 1996-01-16

Amazon.com

When Clarence Wilmot, a Presbyterian clergyman, loses his faith and becomes an encyclopedia salesman, he opens the saga of one American family's twentieth-century relationship with God and all things religious.

Book Description

Faith ultimately bursts into flame as Updike's major new novel, charting the lives of one family through four generations, shows readers an America whose dream of perfection is translated into an obsession with God and the Moving Picture. Paterson, New Jersey, 1910: When a Presbyterian minister suddenly loses his faith and leaves the pulpit to become a salesman, he becomes a movie addict as well.

Customer Reviews:

A REALLY good read.......2007-02-11

This book is beautifully written and well researched by both Mr Updike and his staff.

John Updike is an artist, he creates pictures with words the way a painter creates pictures with brushes and colors. A painter sees a leaf in a certain light, grabs a piece of paper and tries to capture it using brush strokes and a variety of different colors. John Updike sees a leaf then captures it perfectly with his descriptive words. He uses words the way a painter uses his pallet, shading and coloring, with strong emphasis here and a light touch there the pictures come to life, dazzlingly. One reads a passage then gazes off into the distance visualizing what he has written, soaking up the ambience, the atmosphere of the piece, hearing the noises, smelling the smells, feeling the chill or the warmth, feeling the thrill as of galloping hooves when the story picks up pace. Its all there in this book.

Passages such as:-

"What had been a picture postcard in Basingstoke, where the hemlock boughs were bent low over the sidewalks and the chickadees hopped in the tracery of grapevines and Locust Street chimed from end to end with the scraping of snow shovels, was in New York an icy ashy slush the traffic churned with broken chains and angry claxons. Yet there was for Essie also something secretive and radiant about the storm's aftermath here, like light and cool morning air sneaking in across the windowsill. Spots of pure snow were still tucked in on fire escapes. Dirty plowed snow was mountainously heaped along the curbs, burying the trash cans, and people had worn a narrow wobbling path like a forest trail, carrying their expensive parcels and wearing their expensive clothes."

and :-

"The next morning, in the heavy dew, Luke told the children to stay in the Temple and went out, into swale in the lower right hand meadow where a thicket of little gamble oaks grew, with an M-16 he had fitted with a telescopic sight. When, at seven thirty, the orange yellow school bus came along the macadamized road, Luke from about a hundred fifty yards away shot out the two tires on his side. It was a crisp November morning, with the foretaste of winter in the wind and the sky overhead as blue as lupine and the leaves of the little oaks turning a papery khaki color. In his telescopic sight with the rifle steadied on a low branch, he could see beautifully. He could see the bus driver, a plump bleached blond in an ochre suede jacket roll down her window to look at her front tire; he could see the glint on the chrome edge of her side mirror. He could see as he swept the rifle in a gentle arc, the little faces cramming up against the windows in curiosity. The windows made their faces look dirty. Their mouths were open making a shrill noise he couldn't hear. When he took out the back tire and swept the sight back, the faces had all disappeared - ducked down, he guessed- so he took out a few of the windows for good measure."

make the book worth reading.

The tone of the book is cynical. Mr. Updike is 75yrs old this year, he is scratching the surface of American life with the advantage of age. I do not agree entirely with his point of view (or Nietzsche`s) "God is dead." To my mind there is a higher power whatever its name or gender, something greater than ourselves and that power can be positive, (good) or negative, (bad). Something that was there before the big bang and overrides everything with the law of checks and balances whatever we creatures do here on this extraordinary planet or in space.

The message of the book is that religion is stardust like the movies, both are fake. He is telling us to be aware there is no Wizard of Oz. Clarence rejected one fantasy but clung to another. Clark, his great grandson, at the end of the book was cognizant of both.

The book is arranged to be read in 4 sittings with its long paragraphs sometimes stretching two or three pages; it is hard to find a natural break to put the book down and indeed if you do put the book down for a few days it is difficult to remember the characters when you pick it up again. The book is divided like The Bible, it is a book of books, but lacking in chapter and verse. It would have been easier to read if each book had had chapters. The author did not want the reader to put the book down until the end of each individual book. Also a helpful addition for the reader would have been a map of the family tree at the front for easy reference.

Another nit I am picking (albeit a minor one) is that beautiful as the writing is, some of the similes grate. For instance:-

"....while stretched out at full length on heliotrope sheets in a dress of scarlet satin slit it seemed, all the way up her immense white thigh, like a white caddy fender without a fin."

What? `Like a slash in a crimson curtain hiding a bordello,' might have been more apt.

Or

"Essie felt armored in pretense, formless and safe behind her face like the rich filling of a stiff chocolate."

Or

"The numbered side streets were like rows and rows of books that some day she would read."

I somehow imagined the author struggling with these, it broke the spell a little.

Finally, I doubt whether the words "fantastic" and "stunning" were used as common adjectives in the fifties, it would more likely have been "wonderful" or "marvelous."

Altogether, minor nits; but together they have lost the book a star.

Where Updike's Flowers Grow.......2007-01-29

The plot of "In the Beauty of the Lilies" is as ambitious as the title itself, and in the hands of a lesser author, I daresay the story would've run out of steam by page 30. But this is Updike, an author who could write riveting and gorgeous VCR instruction manuals.

The book's scope is grand. It follows in intricate detail the pulses and patterns of an entire family through four generations, giving us not just a powerful look at the evolution of the family, but of the country in which they live. The balance between the two is delicate, but Updike's sparkling prose never loses its focus. Although the details of America's growing pains are ever-present and, even more important, amazingly done, they never overshadow the story of the Wilmot clan, never seem tacked on just for authenticity's sake.

Likewise, Updike's story itself, although it focuses on four individuals from the same clan, effectively utilizes two contrasting symbols that could very easily have become heavy-handed icons: religion and the movies. In fact, the book begins with two simultaneous incidents: a starlet passing out from heat exhaustion in the middle of filming a movie scene, and a pastor -- Clarence Wilmot -- losing his faith in God with equal suddeness. From here, Updike strolls through eighty years like a seasoned tour guide, showing us the bits and pieces that matter as this Wilmot family struggles to find its faith again in a world ever more obsessed with the superficial and unreal.

The book loses some steam in the second part, during the story of Teddy, Clarence's clawless son. This section functions most obviously as a chrysalis, giving the story (and the country) time to mature into something bigger. Updike's compelling writing keeps Teddy's rather uneventful tale from devolving into something mundane, although there are points where it is a bit redundant.

He moves from here, though, into the life of Teddy's daughter, Essie, within whom the book finds its strongest thematic purchase. Bred with a "private God" and an insatiable desire for filmdom's fame, Essie grows into a famous film actress who, amazingly, gets everything she prays for, although she doesn't necessarily pray for everything she gets.

One of the latter things is a son, Clark, who headlines the final part of the book, a tale overtly inspired by the Branch Davidian disaster. In spite of the glaring similarities, the story itself is still well-told (if not, in some parts, a tad hazy) and bristling with import.

Updike's message is not as clear as his vibrant words, but it is certainly as accessible. Flowing through his smooth, well-pieced narrative is a liquid-crystal meaning, a well-stated (never obvious) point about where true faith goes, if it ever goes anywhere at all. It certainly isn't a cliched coincidence that the book's most cinematic (and melodramatic) moment is also its most truly soulful. And for a book with this much spirit (see the last line of Clarence's section), this much tenderness (see the last line of Teddy's section), and this much brutal urgency (see the last line of Essie's section), well, that's saying quite a lot.

From Church To The Movies And Back In Four Generations.......2006-03-19

Among Updike's best works. This is the story of one family thru four generations, from a Presbyterian minister of the early twentieth-century, who loses his faith in God and substitutes that with a fascination for motion pictures, thru his son, a local postmaster, to that man's daughter, an actress who becomes a Hollywood superstar, and finally into the modern era when the actress' son gains heroic infamy for his actions as a radical participant in a cult stand-off reminiscent of the Branch Davidian disaster of 1993. I loved the depth with which Updike infused the passing of time, how he slid era into era and made the inhabitants of each generation seem so in place and representative of their age. This is the kind of book that draws in the curious and converts them to believers in how strong a novel can be as conveyer of a message. However, if there is one weakness here in this tale, it is the way Alma, the main character in the third generation, achieved international fame, and yet Updike seemed to rush thru her rise and merely told of it without letting us feel its culmination. He simply stated that it had come to pass, she was famous, she had starred opposite this major star and that one, but it never felt right, somehow. I don't blame Updike for this, exactly, and think this also serves to point out the weakness of the written word when it is used to describe a visual medium, as was that case. I was also a little saddened by how this novel ended, and felt it was a needlessly dim conclusion to nine decades of involvement with a number of deep-souled men and women. I rated four stars instead of five for this reason and for the facts mentioned in the rise-to-fame section, but In the Beauty of the Lilies was a wonderful book that packed a lot into its pages and I really enjoyed it. It serves to reinforce that John Updike is an American master.

Religion more powerful than the movies?.......2006-03-01

The back cover of this book enthusiastically describes it as the story of the 20th century in the US "seen through the prism of the movies." But I'd argue that the movies definitely take second place to religion as the driving force of American culture in Updike's view--and that certainly hasn't changed since this novel was written. "In the Beauty of the Lilies" is the story of religion in the life of a family--first for the brooding minister Clarence, who suddenly loses all faith on a totally ordinary summer afternoon at home. Clarence's son Teddy, the most "ordinary" character in the book, will never forgive God for abandoning his father and for the consequences his family suffered as a result. The third generation is Alma, formerly Essie, a movie star in the age of glamour, with her touching faith in a child-like father God watching over things. But God lets her son Clark wander off into the territory of false religion with catastrophic results.

I liked this book a lot--Updike's erudite writing is always a pleasure, and his insights into our so-called godless society, where religion permeates everything, were very astute. The "Teddy" story was a bit slow moving, perhaps deliberately, for it is followed by the meteoric rise--and fall--of his daughter's career. As for the story of Clark, we know what's coming, and we read on with growing dread towards the inevitable conclusion. An extra bonus was the very realistic rendering of Paterson NJ in the early 20th century and the painful silk workers' strike. Updike based this section of the book on the fine research of Steve Golin, a historian I know well. This novel is well worth your while.

Loss of faith.......2005-02-16

This books moves from a great grandfather's loss of faith in Paterson, New Jersey, to a Waco-like incident. Unfortunately the Presbyterian minister, Clarence Wilmot, is much more lifelike than the subsequent characters living in Delaware and New York City, among other places, upon whom the author expends a considerable number of words and much labor.

Clarence Wilmot explained that he would be with the members of his church only for the length of his call. He had come to believe there was no God. At Fourth Presbyterian glass windows presented a sextet of Protestant martyrs, Wycliff, Huss, Calvin, Knox, Cromwell, and Bunyan. A dying parishner told Clarence there had not been enough damnation from the pulpit. Clarence had a wife and three children. He thought that if he resigned the ministry there would be jobs. He thought it would be hypocrisy to remain in the pulpit. When Clarence tried to give his resignation, the church leaders offered an August vacation at Ocean Grove. After he was demitted he fell on the social scale. Previously he had failed to grasp such a consequence of his actions. Three years later he was selling encyclopedias door to door. His son Jared returned from World War One with a limp arm. Younger son Teddy survived the influenza epidemic.

Following Clarence's death, Teddy and his mother moved to Delaware. Teddy obtained work in a bottle cap factory and later became a postman. He had his wife Emily had two children, Esther and Danny. In the nineteen fifties Esther moved to New York City to jump start her career as an actress and model. Eventually she did become successful in the movies, and it was her son Clark who joined a peculiar sect.

This intergenerational novel certainly has its moments of rollicking good spirits. The portrayal of members of the family with a myriad of interests and competencies is energetic.

John Updike: Just Looking: Essays on Art

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A Fine Art Critic Too!

John Updike: Just Looking: Essays on Art
John Updike
Manufacturer: MFA Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Criticism | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0878465774
Release Date: 2000-12-02

Book Description

Artwork by John Updike.

Customer Reviews:

A Fine Art Critic Too!.......2000-08-06

Painting is to Updike what music was to Anthony Burgess: not so much a second love as a parallel infatuation. One always knew it from his prose: from the references to painters and painterly styles, and from the conspicuously visual quality of his description. It is good, then, to have this collection of the writer's thoughts on selected artists and art-works. He is neither too academic nor too personal in his opinions, and speaks with authority but without jargon. Of the longer essays, 'Something Missing' struck me as particularly good - a tentative, penetrating, careful pondering about what it is in John Singer Sargent's work that misses the mark of great art. The shorter pieces offer bite-sized reflections on single paintings or objects: 'Some Rectangles of Blue' discusses an abstract work by Richard Diebenkorn in such a way that one not only feels enlightened about the particular work but about abstract painting generally. As a critic, Updike has a refreshing freedom from academic orthodoxy - 'We are on the verge here of poster art', he reflects on some of Renoir - and as a (verbal) artist himself has licence to entertain as well as instruct with his prose. The book is lavishly illustrated with uncompromising colour reproductions and, of all his books, the most pleasant simply to hold in the hands.

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