John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace [Hardcover]

James Yerkes (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

"This book is the first to take an in-depth look at the religious vision of Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Updike. In his very first piece of autobiography, first published in 1962 and later titled "The Dogwood Tree: A Boyhood," Updike characterized religion as one of "the three great secret things" in human experience, the others being sex and art. Since then his literary production of more than fifty books in four main genres - novels, short stories, poetry, and critical essays - has consistently and insightfully explored a wide range of religious issues. The essays collected here evaluate the religious dimension of Updike's prodigious literary vision, looking broadly at Updike's understanding of religion in ordinary human experience, in the context of historic Christianity, and in contemporary American culture."--BOOK JACKET.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yerkes, professor of religion and philosophy at Moravian College, edits this eminently readable collection of essays exploring the religious dimensions of Updike's work and vision. Authored by an interdisciplinary group, the collection benefits by avoiding both excessively technical and tendentiously "churchy" language. As insightful as it is with respect to Updike's writing, it also effectively uses Updike as a lens, creatively bringing into focus American democracy, civil religion and the Protestant tradition with which Updike converses. The 15 essays fall under three sections: "Updike and the Religious Dimension," "Updike and the Christian Religion" and "Updike and American Religion." The book is noteworthy not only for its interdisciplinary approach but, as Yerkes himself points out, for the time it spends on writings regarded by establishment critics to be among Updike's worst. The anthology opens with a poem and an essay by Updike himself and closes with a useful bibliography, including Internet sources on Updike's work. For readers who have never explored Updike, these essays serve as a provocative invitation to do so. Readers who have already engaged Updike in depth will find in these pages a rich and critical conversation, revealing Updike's intricate vision of religion and human experience. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802838731
• ISBN-13: 978-0802838735
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive resource on Updike's religious views, December 31, 1999

By 

Larry C. Randen (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace (Hardcover)

The editor and contributors do a fine job documenting and interpreting Updike's religious insights using his own words from a wide range of his writings and interviews. It's one of the best resources for literary scholars as well as Christian-minded readers. All will have their spiritual values reinforced and their faith deepened and challenged, enriched, and inspired by this instructive introduction to this gifted Protestant writer and observer of American culture. It also has a comprehesive bibliography.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Updike's Confrontation, January 20, 2000

By 

Bob Powers (Marietta, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace (Hardcover)

James Yerkes is the editor of a wonderful collection of essays dealing with the topic of faith in a delightfully down-to-earth manner. John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace (Eerdmans, $24). That longwinded title may scare away Updike admirers who fear wading in the dark waters of academic posturing. They need not worry, for the book is a relatively breezy read, with only a semi-occasional wandering into verbosity. For instance, Yerkes (who teaches religion at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa.) writes about Updike in the light of having watched and enjoyed the Jack Nicholson film, As Good As It Gets. Nothing stuffy here.

James A. Schiff writes that for Updike, "God permeates every aspect of human life so that his presence is felt in and around households. Updike doesn't state his beliefs in so many words, preferring--as most artists--to "suggest that the possibility of there being something greater beneath the physical surface." As Updike wrote in Assorted Prose, "Blankness is not emptiness; we may skate upon an intense radiance we do not see because we see nothing else."

Schiff sees God presence in Updike's writing, although "beneath the surface, pushing through, as well as above the world, providing light and hope."

If you share an enthusiasm for Updike, be sure to check out editor Yerkes' excellent Web page called "The Centaurian" devoted to Updike.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critic's Comments on Dust Jacket, August 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace (Hardcover)

"John Updike has said that 'religion created Greek literature and died within its embrace.' Another religion may or may not have created Updike's works, but this volume of essays shows that the embrace is long-standing, seductive, many-sided, and by no means moribund. With obvious affection and clarity of vision, these crtics have hugged the Updikean shore very well indeed." Anthony C. Yu, University of Chicago Divinity School.