{"product_id":"higher-gossip-john-updike-9780812983685","title":"Higher Gossip: Essays and Criticism","description":"\u003cb\u003eOne of the most gifted American writers of the twentieth century--and the author of the acclaimed Rabbit series--delivers the intimate, generous, insightful, and beautifully written collection he was compiling when he died.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis collection of miscellaneous prose opens with a self-portrait of the writer in winter, a Prospero who, though he fears his most dazzling performances are behind him, reveals himself in every sentence to be in deep conversation with the sources of his magic. It concludes with a moving meditation on a modern world robbed of imagination--a world without religion, without art--and on the difficulties of faith in a disbelieving age. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn between are previously uncollected stories and poems, a pageant of scenes from seventeenth-century Massachusetts, five late \"golf dreams,\" and several of Updike's commentaries on his own work. At the heart of the book are his matchless reviews--of John Cheever, Ann Patchett, Toni Morrison, William Maxwell, John le Carré, and essays on Aimee Semple McPherson, Max Factor, and Albert Einstein, among others. Also included are two decades of art criticism--on Chardin, El Greco, Blake, Turner, Van Gogh, Max Ernest, and more. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUpdike's criticism is gossip of the highest order, delivered in an intimate and generous voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e John Updike\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0812983688\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780812983685\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/18\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 528\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.22lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.39h x 6.38w x 1.08d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/09\/2012 pg. 32","brand":"John Updike","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50663769309439,"sku":"9780812983685","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_67c8dc11-1ef5-4bdd-9c05-294eac6bb2a6.jpg?v=1792003592","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/higher-gossip-john-updike-9780812983685","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}