John Updike

John Updike (1932–2009) was an American novelist, poet, essayist and critic. A Harvard graduate, he wrote for The New Yorker for many years. He was known for his finely observed portrayals of middle-class life and the inner world in small-town America, in a style that combined realism with lyricism. His Rabbit tetralogy won him the Pulitzer Prize twice, and he also received the National Book Award. He wrote more than sixty books in his lifetime. Seven of his works are included here, among them novels such as Pigeon Feathers, Couples and The Centaur, as well as art essays such as Just Looking, showing that his writing spans both fiction and non-fiction and touches on foreign literature, art and literary appreciation.