Illustrations of John Updike and Philip Roth, portrait of Adam Gopnik (The New Yorker)
Philip Roth and John Updike, the preeminent novelists of the American Century, ran neck and neck throughout their long and celebrated careers. This February, best-selling New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik invites you to explore their literary achievements and parallel lives in a four-part online course presented by Library of America.
A year and a day younger than his peer and rival, Roth called Updike “the indestructible writer with the indestructible fluency. . . an ace, maybe the ace.” For Updike, “Philip’s example makes me get up earlier and work harder.” Drawing from the same postwar upheavals—generational, sexual, religious, and political—these very different writers crafted fiction of astonishing power and prescience that shaped the story of modern American literature.
Inspired by the multivolume LOA editions of Roth and Updike, this course will delve into their complex relationship and many masterpieces, from early short-fiction triumphs, to the scandalous 1960s breakthroughs Portnoy’s Complaint and Couples, to brilliant late-career works like Roth’s American Trilogy and Updike’s In the Beauty of the Lilies that show these two literary lions confronting their legacies and making bold bids for artistic immortality.
Philip Roth & John Updike: Giants of Postwar American Fiction
with Adam Gopnik
Four sessions: January 14, January 21, January 28, February 4
Sessions will be held weekly on Wednesday afternoons from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. ET. The class will also be recorded and shared with registrants to watch anytime.
Click here to RSVP
Or go to: rebrand.ly/RothUpdike
Course Fee: $200 (includes a coupon for 40% off all Roth and Updike volumes in the LOA series)
LOA Members get the special discount rate of $150. Learn more about the perks of becoming an LOA Member.
Space is limited and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Sessions will take place on Zoom and last 75 minutes. Attendees are encouraged to share questions in advance and during the class. Adam Gopnik will send a follow-up e-mail after each meeting with reflections on the class discussion, suggestions for further reading, and a recording of the full session.
Certificates of Completion for LOA online courses are available on request. Please contact support@loa.org for information.
SCHOLARSHIPS
If the cost to attend this program presents a hardship to you, we are pleased to offer a number of scholarship places at a reduced rate. For more information and to request a tuition waiver, please e-mail support@loa.org.
If you would like to support Library of America’s online programming and help sponsor a reduced-rate scholarship for a deserving student or teacher, please consider making a $50 donation at checkout on Eventbrite or reach out to support@loa.org.
