"Brazil"
(Reviewed by Judi Clark FEB 3, 1998)
This novel is about a love affair between a white privileged girl and a black teen from the streets of Rio who meet on the beach. But this is far from a Romeo and Juliet love story. (Would Juliet have prostituted herself for Romeo?)
I liked this book when I read it, but most reviewers initially seemed to hate it. I don't know if it was because they didn't forgive Updike for trying out magical realism or if they don't like that genre of fiction to begin with. It certainly isn't the story itself since it reads like an adult fairy tale.
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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)
- The Poorhouse Fair (1959)
- Rabbit, Run (1960)
- The Centaur (1963)
- Couples (1968)
- Bech: A Book (1970)
- Rabbit Redux (1971)
- A Month of Sundays (1975)
- Marry Me: A Romance (1976)
- The Coup (1978)
- Rabbit
is Rich (1981)
- Bech is Back (1982)
- The Witches of Eastwick (1984)
- Roger's Version (1986)
- S (1988)
- Rabbit
at Rest (1991)
- Memories of the Ford Administration (1992)
- Brazil (1994)
- In the Beauty of the Lilies (1996)
- Toward
the End of Time (1997)
- Bech at Bay (1998)
- Gertrude
and Claudius (2000)
- Seek
My Face (November 2002)
- Villages (October 2004)
- Terrorist (June 2006)
- The Same Door: short stories(1959)
- Pigeon Feathers, and other stories (1962)
- Telephone Poles and Other Poems (1963)
- Olinger Stories (1964)
- Of the Farm (1965)
- Assorted Prose (1965)
- The Music School (1966)
- Midpoint, and other poems (1969)
- Museums and Women (1972)
- Six Poems (1973)
- Buchanan Dying: A Play (1974)
- Picked-Up Pieces (1975)
- Tossing and Turning (1977)
- Problems and Other Stories (1979)
- Hugging the Shore: Essays and Criticism (1983)
- Jester's Dozen (1984)
- Facing Nature: Poems (1985)
- Trust Me: Short Stories (1987)
- Golf Dreams (1988)
- Just Looking: Essays on Art (1989)
- Self-Conciousness (memoirs) (1989)
- Odd Jobs: Essays and Criticism (1991)
- Collected Poems: 1953-1993
- The Afterlife and Other Stores (1994)
- More Matter: Essays and Criticism (1999)
- Licks of Love: Short Stories (November 2000)
- Americana and Other Poems (May 2001)
- Still Looking: Essays on American Art (November 2005)
- Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism (October 2007)
Related:
- The John Updike Encyclopedia by Jack DeBellis (2000)
E-Book Study Guide:
- Study Guide for RABBIT, RUN (July 2002)
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Book Marks:
- Kirjasto on John Updike
- The New York Times® John Updike page
- Salon interview with John Updike
- The New York Times review (by Barbara Kingsolver) of Brazil
- MostlyFiction.com's review of Terrorist
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About the Author:
John Updike was born in 1932, in Shillington, Pennsylvania, as an only child. His
father taught algebra in a local high school, and his mother wrote short stories and novels. After getting
straight A's in high school, he went to Harvard University on a full scholarship,
studying English and graduating summa cum laude in 1954. After graduation,
he spent a year in England, at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art
in Oxford. From 1955 to 1957 he was a member of the staff of The
New Yorker, to which he has contributed poems, fiction, essays, and
book reviews. In 1959 Updike published both his first book of short
fiction, The Same Door, and his first novel, The Poorhouse Fair.
That year he also moved from New York City to the coastal town of Ipswich,
Massachusetts, where he has lived most of the time since.
He is the father of four children and the author of over fifty books, including collections of short stories, poems and criticism. His novels have won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the American Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Rosenthal Award, the Howells Medal and the Campion Medal. His novel The Witches of Eastwick which was made into a major feature film.
