John Updike died today.
I have complicated opinions regarding his body of work, but I do feel a twinge of regret that he's gone (which I didn't expect). I guess I also feel the need to mention the passing of one of our Undeniable Greats.
I am grateful that I saw him read from one of his books here in Houston, at an event with Jay McInerney. I'll look back on that night of intensely sexual excerpts and laugh always, because I was at that reading with my dad - afterwards he looked at me as we were waiting for the elevator in shocked silence and said, "we shall never speak of that again." For all my mixed emotions on Updike's writing, I certainly hope to have that kind of humor, talent, and zeal when I am 76.
He'll be missed, despite everything.
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