More Matter

With a fiction writer's affectionate, shaping hand, Updike explores everything from the nature of evil and the philosophical content of literature to the wreck of the Titanic and the infuriating phenomenon of unopenable parcels. Exploring the work of both his peers and his predecessors, there are numerous fascinating pieces on literature, but Updike also gives sharp-eyed impressions of the other arts, from film to photography to painting, as well as honing in, with his peerless acuity, on the incidental and overlooked details that constitute so much of our lives.