Updike and Politics: New Considerations(Politics, Literature, & Film)

Presenting the first interdisciplinary consideration of his political thought, Updike and Politics: New Considerations establishes a new scholarly foundation for assessing one of the most recognized and significant American writers of the post-1945 period. This book brings together a diverse group of American and international scholars, including contributors from Japan, India, Israel, and Europe. Like Updike himself, the collection canvases a wide range of topics, including Updike’s too often overlooked poetry and his single play. Its essays deal with not only political themes such as the traditional aspects of power, rights, equality, justice, or violence but also the more divisive elements in Updike’s work like race, gender, imperialism, hegemony, and technology. Ultimately, the book reveals how Updike’s immense body of work illuminates the central political questions and problems that troubled American culture during the second half of the twentieth century as well as the opening decade of the new millennium.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Updike and the American Presidency Chapter 2: “We’re None of Us Perfect”: Watergate and Adultery in John Updike’s A Month of Sundays and Memories of the Ford Administration Chapter 3: Presidential Politics as Sexual Politics: Memories of the Ford Administration Chapter 4: Updike, Obama and the Poetics of Hope Chapter 5: Updike on Demagoguery Chapter 6: ‘Love it or leave it’: America in red, gray and blue in Rabbit Redux Chapter 7: ‘Mail’ Chauvinism: John Updike’s Postal Fetish and the Unrealizable Vision of American Democracy Chapter 8: The Failure of Moderation in Buchanan Dying and Memories of the Ford Administration Chapter 9: Inside Reagan’s ‘Placid, Uncluttered Head’: Roger’s Version and the Rise of Neoliberalism Chapter 10: The Politics of Vulnerability in The Afterlife and Other Stories Chapter 11: John Updike’s Terrorist and the Politics of Hygiene Chapter 12: Updike’s Middle East: A Neoliberal Approach to Conflict Resolution Chapter 13: Updike “Third-Worlds It”: Staging The Coup as Political Satire Chapter 14: The Three Mile Island Accident and the Man from Toyota: American Cold War Cultural Politics,Ressentiment, and the Uncanny Double in Rabbit Is Rich and Rabbit at Rest Chapter 15: John Updike and the World: The Politics of Identity in Brazil

About the Author :
Matthew Shipe is senior lecturer and the director of Advanced Writing in the English department at Washington University, Missouri. Scott Dill is lecturer of English at Case Western Reserve University.

Review :
This collection of essays adds depth to our understanding of Updike as a political writer. The book is especially valuable to scholars of late-twentieth and early twenty-first century literature for its investigations of intersections between the personal and the political. It exposes Updike's nuanced perspectives on institutions such as the American presidency, and it provides thought-provoking explorations of politically charged and transformative American experiences including the War in Vietnam, the Cold War, and the attacks of September 11, 2001. This collection provides a timely and much-needed perspective on Updike and political life. The editors have selected impressive essays from established Updike critics, international scholars, and some newer voices to display a rich range of interpretations. The essays are elegantly framed by the introduction, and they collectively advance an urgent critical conversation. Updike and Politics: New Considerations is an important contribution: it sharpens our understanding of an essential American writer through a crucial context.