Run

One of my literary heroes is riding a crest of success; another has passed away. John Updike died this morning at 76 of lung cancer. In high school, after reading "A&P," I devoured the Rabbit books, at the advice of my father. It was very likely these books that helped me to move past my nihilist/Beckett phase, while helping me to see that not only does every person have a story, but that every story is valid. And I'm sure my own Simon's finish owes more than a little to the close of Rabbit, Run.

I haven't read him in years, and some of his "celebration," or at least close examination, of the troubles of the wealthy in post-war America really rubs me the wrong way nowadays. Still, I'm at a loss.