John Updike's most famous novels
are his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is
Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Both Rabbit
is Rich and Rabbit at Rest received the Pulitzer Prize. The Rabbit
novels in particular can be viewed as, according to Julian Barnes, "a
distraction from, and a glittering confirmation of, the vast bustling
ordinariness of American life. But as Updike saw a certain gorgeousness in
everyday America, he also saw its decline: at times, he was "so clearly
disturbed by the downward spin of America.
Heavy on mortality, but light on morbidity, Updike wrote about American
small town, Protestant, middle-class life .Updike was recognized for his
careful craftsmanship, stylistic prose, and his prolific output, He was
wrote more than twenty novels and more
than a dozen short story collections, as well as poetry, art criticism, literary
criticism and children's books. Updike often explored adultery in many of
his novels, especially in a suburban, middle class setting, most famously in
Couples (1968).
As a testament to Updike's popular cultural importance, in an episode titled
"Insane Clown Poppy" of TV's The Simpsons, John
Updike is the ghost writer of a book that Krusty the Clown is promoting. The
book's title is "Your Shoe's Too Big To Kickbox God," a 20-page book written
entirely by John Updike as a money-making scam. With the success of the Rabbit
novels, there is only one possible food to prepare to celebrate Updike's
birthday. The following recipe may be most appropriate for the book that Updike
didn't write - Rabbit, Run Faster.
Rabbit is a very bony meat. Either have a your
butcher bone the rabbit or remove the bones yourself after
cooking the casserole. Enjoy it while watching John in
The Century: America's Time
(1999).
|
|
|