Backstage: A Tribute to John Updike: LIVE Shorts

Colleagues, friends, and family of John Updike, who died January 27, 2009, gathered at The New York Public Library to pay tribute to htis titan of American literature. David Remnick, Sonny Mehta, Charles McGrath, Judith Jones, Roger Angell, Lorrie Moore, Adam Gopnik, Deborah Garrison, Ann Goldstein, ZZ Packer, and David Updike honored John Updike's life with remembrances and readings from his work.

Updike, the author of more than 60 books—including 22 novels, 15 short-story collections, seven collections of poetry, and five childrens books—was the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Book Awards. He is probably best remembered for his quartet of novels featuring Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, the first of which, Rabbit, Run, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1960, and the last, Rabbit at Rest, published in 1990.

In his half century writing for The New Yorker, he contributed fiction, poetry, essays, and criticism to the magazine; more than seventy of his book reviews and essays are collected in Due Considerations. Before he died, Updike delivered the manuscripts for three new books, all of which will be published before the end of this year.

This event was co-presented by Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker.