From Harvard to a staff position on The New Yorker, John Updike turned his brainy pedigree into a successful career as a novelist, essayist and critic. His novels Rabbit, Run (1960), Couples (1978) and Pulitzer winner Rabbit is Rich (1981) exemplify his sophisticated take on contemporary middle-class tragedy. Prolific as all get-out, Updike has also written numerous short stories and poems, and in 1997 he engineered a group-written mystery story on the Internet.

A deft poke at what it means to be a writer in America.

From Harvard to a staff position on The New Yorker, John Updike turned his brainy pedigree into a successful career as a novelist, essayist and critic. His novels Rabbit, Run (1960), Couples (1978) and Pulitzer winner Rabbit is Rich (1981) exemplify his sophisticated take on contemporary middle-class tragedy. Prolific as all get-out, Updike has also written numerous short stories and poems, and in 1997 he engineered a group-written mystery story on the Internet.

A deft poke at what it means to be a writer in America.

From Harvard to a staff position on The New Yorker, John Updike turned his brainy pedigree into a successful career as a novelist, essayist and critic. His novels Rabbit, Run (1960), Couples (1978) and Pulitzer winner Rabbit is Rich (1981) exemplify his sophisticated take on contemporary middle-class tragedy. Prolific as all get-out, Updike has also written numerous short stories and poems, and in 1997 he engineered a group-written mystery story on the Internet.

A deft poke at what it means to be a writer in America.