That’s come up in some of my episodes: who lasts and who’s faded/going to fade. Updike’s the first one to get cited, how quickly his rep declined. (Roth is a big ?)
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Mary McCarthy seems to have faded too, though her death came longer ago. Austin Clarke, the Barbadian-Canadian writer who won the Commonwealth Prize & Giller prize for the same book, also seems to be missing from literary conversations/articles up here?
It’s funny that you mentioned Bloom re Updike, bec. I have no idea if he’s particularly talked about/read nowadays. (Keeping in mind that I’m outside of academia.)
His books appear to *all* be in print, and that’s an impressive feat, given how prolific he was and the fact that many living writers see their books go out of print. But…he doesn’t appear to be cited by younger (or established) writers as an influence. Maybe he will get a critical reappraisal ?
Roth still seems to be talked about though: the Blake Bailey bio made headlines & the 2024 election brought chatter about The Plot Against America. Updike seems really far gone, even at the New Yorker, where he seemed ubiquitous. Bloom called him a minor writer with a major style (ouch!).
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