Blockbuster Book

This was my first experience with John Updike and far from my traditional audio boom fare of fairly mindless. What a talent, no wonder he is so well regarded. The quality of writing is absolutely superb, on par with some of the finest that I've read. There is such emotional intelligence, such marvelous attention to details, such incredible grasp of human nature, such assuredness with which he renders his characters wholly three dimensional. The story is a biography of a woman as told by herself to an interviewer and in flashbacks. Remarkable woman with a fascinating long creative life, an artist herself and wife to some very famous artists as well, particularly her first husband, heavily inspired by Jackson Pollock. To any art fan this would be an interesting read just from that aspect, but this was really just such a terrific character study. The fact that a man can write such awesomely intricate women is incredibly impressive. The reading of the book was top notch. Excellent introduction to the author. Recommended.