Books: A Burden of Answered Prayers

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS by John Updike; Knopf; 257 pages; $18.95

BY PAUL GRAY

For more than 30 years, John Updike has borne, with considerable poise and good humor, a terrible burden. He is one of those people whose prayers were answered. Growing up a beloved only child in Shillington, a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania, he dreamed of becoming a writer, of seeing his work appear on the pages of The New Yorker. And -- presto! -- these things occurred and were then followed by unanticipated consequences: lots of money, critical recognition and fame. Worse fates have befallen people, and Updike adjusted as...

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