The Complete Henry Bech : twenty stories

This omnibus edition consists in three volumes of Bech stories — Bech: A Book, Bech is Back, and Bech at Bay — and one further short story, “His Oeuvre,” which rounds out the collection. Over more than thirty years of writing we see Updike’s verve, wit, empathy and angst. But mostly we

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see an incredible consistency. From the first story, “Rich in Russia,” to the last, Updike’s alter ego, Henry Bech is struggling with what it is for him to be a writer, to be a non-practicing Jew, to be American, and most importantly, to be a man.

It is natural to assume that the best of Bech would be found in the first Bech book when his character is still fresh and Updike is turning him about to show off his angles. And that might be true. But the later stories are perhaps more welcome for the reader given our now familiarity with Bech and his predictable trait of surprising us. There is pathos aplenty in Bech’s elevation to The Forty, an elite group of artists. But there is also disappointment as Bech struggles with his responsibilities as a writer and, briefly, as a husband and step-father in “Bech Wed.” The breakdown of that relationship coinciding with Bech finally achieving best-seller status speaks to the delicate balances of influences and desires that Updike has realized through Bech.

Each of these stories is a pleasant read and most have passages that will make you laugh and others that will make you think and some that will get you to do both at once.

Easily recommended.

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I picked this up years ago on a recommendation to help my writing skills. It helped some, but I wasn't impressed by the stories.