Fun Facts Friday: John Updike

John Updike (18 March, 1932 – 27 January, 2009) was a novelist, critic, and poet. Mr. Updike is one of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction more than once.

Books by John Updike*

Fun Facts about John Updike:

1. John Hoyer Updike was born in Reading, PA, as an only child. He was raised in Shillington, PA, a small town nearby, and later moved to Plowville.
2. Linda Grace, the author’s mother, wanted to become a published writer and her attempts impressed her young son.
3. In high school, John Updike won the Scholastic Art & Writing Award. He graduated from Shillington High School as a co-valedictorian (as well as being class president) and got a full scholarship to Harvard.
   His Harvard roommate was future American Historian Christopher Lach.
4. In Harvard, Mr. Updike served as a contributor, and president, of the Harvard Lampoon.
5. After graduating Harvard, Mr. Updike studied cartooning in Oxford’s Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art.
   Yes, he wanted to become a cartoonist.
6. Updike and his family moved to Ipswich, MA which is where he wrote his most famous novel Rabbit, Run. The novel follows Harry Angstrom, nicknamed Rabbit, a high-school basketball star stuck in a boring job, and loveless marriage.
7. Rabbit, Run was released to critical acclaim, and later was featured in Time’s All-Time 100 Greatest Novels list.
8. John Updike wrote The Witches of Eastwick (1984), which was turned into a movie in 1987 starring Cher, Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon. In 2009, it was turned into a television show.
9. Among his novels, Mr. Updike also published eight volumes of poetry.
10. John Updike was one of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once. Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and Colson Whitehead were the others.

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on book