"Gods do not answer letters": Ryan on Updike

[buckweaver]

This is fitting for Moddy's "give me something to read" thread. A fascinating look at one of the most celebrated essays of our time, John Updike's "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu," which is a must-read for anyone interested in writing or sports.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2008/09/28/updike_hit_it_out_of_the_park_too/

Bob Ryan, thank you.

(And if you want to read Updike's original essay, click <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/09/26/hub_fans_bid_kid_adieu/">here</a>.)

 

[Beaker]

Thanks for posting, buck. Updike's turn of phrase is sage and beautiful.

 

[ECrawford]

Has this nation produced a more versatile writer than Updike? I don't think so.

 

[Birdscribe]

Has this nation produced a more versatile writer than Updike? I don't think so.

This gentleman begs to differ.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Some may be interested to know that in May a 50th anniversary update edition of this essay will be published in book form, with more on the story from Updike.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Has this nation produced a more versatile writer than Updike? I don't think so.

This gentleman begs to differ.

A giant among midgets, and one of the five greatest U. S. citizens, ever.

 

[WaylonJennings]

Not to steer someone else's thread off course, but most versatile U.S. writers is an interesting debate and could probably warrant a thread of its own. Off the top of my head I can think of David Foster Wallace. Truman Capote would be up there, no? Swinging and missing would be F. Scott Fitzgerald, who washed out miserably trying to be a screen writer.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

 

[WaylonJennings]

Fiction, though?

 

[Steak Snabler]

He's considered a lightweight by some, but when you consider the variety of subjects tackled in Michael Crichton's novels, he'd have to be in the discussion.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

No fiction, Waylon. It wasn't in the literary soil yet.

Poe did a detective work, dabbled in criticism, classical translations, newspaper and magazine writing and fronted a book about shellfish for drinking money. Who knows what more he would have tried out if not for an early grave.

 

[WaylonJennings]

Was Hemingway's newspaper work in any way notable?