Odd Jobs

Praise

“Dazzling . . . an exceptionally intelligent study of writers and their work that illuminates both the pleasures of literature in all its many guises and the alchemical transactions that go on behind its pages.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“[Updike’s] books of criticism must surely be the finest engagement with the contemporary novel by a living practitioner. [He is] not afraid to speak about the novel in its own language—to use metaphor not so much to explicate as to deepen the mystery of literary art.”—James Wood, Times Literary Supplement
 
“Updike’s talent is positively Victorian in its energy, productiveness, and scope—a prodigious talent, fueled by an enthusiasm for life and for ‘the wish to do justice to the real world’ that he finds embodied in books. . . . One of our greatest novelists is also, arguably, our greatest critic of literature.”—Phyllis Rose, The Boston Globe