The Great One Passes

One of my favorites (and a very naughty boy), John Updike, is now writing press releases for Jesus (or maybe Satan). I have read many of his novels and purchased his last, The Widows of Eastwick, a few weeks ago.

In the beginning of the novel, Alexandra, the witch-turned-widow, ponders a crevasse as she travels with a tour group to Canada:

If she were in a mad moment to walk a few paces and let herself slide and slip into this purling crevasse, no one nearby would have the wit or strength to fish her out. That was why people don't travel alone: to be protected from their own craziness. Companions however incidental keep us focused on the fretful nag of living. We all are swaying on the makeshift rope bridge that society suspends above the crevasse. P. 21

Thank you, John Updike, for reminding us to keep "focused on the fretful nag of living" and with your impeccable eye and lust for metaphor for "protecting us from our own craziness."



Thanks for traveling with us.