Christopher J. Scalia tweeted that “John Updike invented The Elaine.” As Exhibit A he offered this description from Updike’s short story “The Happiest I’ve Been” (The New Yorker, Dec. 27, 1958): “There being no answer to Neil, I went into … Continue reading →

Toward the end of 2025 the Reading Eagle published a piece of columnist kismet titled, “Guy walks into a bar . . . sees the rest of Rabbit, Run.” That’s right. In it, Steven Henshaw talked about a column he … Continue reading →

From the BBC Radio 4 link: “Serialised reading of John Updike’s 1971 novel about quintessential American white middle class male Harry ‘Rabbit’ Angstrom. Read by Toby Jones. Abridged by Eileen Horn.” Ten episodes are available. Pictured is the cover of … Continue reading →

In a no-byline roundup, The Guardian (UK) compiled a list of the 20 best performances by actress Susan Sarandon, best known for Thelma and Louise (1991), Bull Durham (1988), and Dead Man Walking (1995). Those three make the list, of … Continue reading →

John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick has become one of the author’s most popular books over the past decade, and maybe that’s because the 1987 film version has become a bit of a coven classic. Yesterday another list of top … Continue reading →

A website named Otakukart just published an article by Arnab Ray on the “45 Best Magical Witch Movies That You Should know,” and wouldn’t you know it, George Miller’s 1987 adaptation of John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick was the … Continue reading →

The Internet Movie Database only notes that a new Witches of Eastwick movie is “in development,” but Distractify published a piece yesterday on “Here’s Everything We Know About the ‘The Witches of Eastwick’ Remake So Far.” Quoting Warner Bros. Screen … Continue reading →

Playbill‘s Leah Putnam reports that for one night only, June 20, 2022, The Witches of Eastwick Concert will play London’s Sondheim Theatre, with original cast member Maria Friedman directing the performance. The cast consists of Natasha J Barnes as Alexandra, … Continue reading →

Who’s reading (or at least pretending to read) John Updike? That would be Emma Roberts, Julia Robert’s niece. A sharp-eyed Updike fan spotted her holding a copy of Rabbit, Run in a scene from In a Relationship, a 2018 indie … Continue reading →

John Updike was born 90 years ago on this date. To celebrate, John Updike Childhood Home Director of Education Maria Lester organized and hosted a reading featuring prominent Berks County residents. Watch the Facebook Live recording of the 90th Birthday … Continue reading →

Gary Louris, a singer-songwriter and founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, has written a song titled “Mr. Updike,” his ode to the author. “Mr. Updike” is one of the singles on a solo album that was released today, … Continue reading →

The Hastings Tribune‘s Rich Heldenfels (Tribune News Service, Nebraska) was asked by a reader, “Do you know of any plans to make (remake) a film based on any John Updike novels?” Heldenfels replied, “I do not know of any plans. … Continue reading →

It’s been three years in the making, but today the curtain opens again on the stage version of John Updike’s Hamlet prequel, Gertrude and Claudius. As Jeffrey Borak of The Berkshire Eagle, dateline Pittsfield, Mass., writes, “Based on a novel … Continue reading →

As part of Bill Uhrich’s “Flashback Friday,” the Reading Eagle yesterday published an article from May 17, 1969, announcing “‘Rabbit Run’ Auditions To Begin Here.” “Bert Remsen, executive assistant to the producer and director of the Warner Bros. production of … Continue reading →

Writing for Broadway Direct, Mark A. Robinson compiled a list of “West End Musicals We Hope Will Come to Broadway,” and had this to say about an Updike-based production: The Witches of Eastwick—This one goes back even further than We … Continue reading →

In the Sunday, May 27, 2018 Guardian, Mark Brown wrote an update about Andrew Davies, “Britain’s most successful literary adaptor for television,” and his intentions for an upcoming adaptation of John Updike’s Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom novels. As Brown writes, “The … Continue reading →

Updike’s most famous character, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, appears in Insomnia File #26—or at least the Hollywood version of him does. Blogger Lisa Marie Bowman writes about her late-night viewing—”You know how sometimes you just can’t get any sleep and, at … Continue reading →

Updike fans know that James Caan starred in a film version of Rabbit, Run that premiered in Reading and was so unwarmly received that the studio decided against a wider release. And Updike fans know that the film is rarely shown. But … Continue reading →

You know a film still has currency when it sparks the headline, “The Devil is a F**kboy: Revisiting ‘The Witches of Eastwick,’” with the subhead “Thirty years later, George Miller’s diabolical feminist parable feels relevant as hell. Gird your cherries.” Meg … Continue reading →

Could we see a TV adaptation of Updike’s Rabbit tetralogy in the future? We would if it were up to Andrew Davies, whose BBC1 adaptation of Les Miserables is expected to air next year. The 80-year-old screenwriter announced at a Radio … Continue reading →