The Portrait Gallery

It's not as developed as her masterful "These Precious Days," but Ann Patchett's "The Portrait Gallery" is at least somewhat touching even as she unintentionally depicts John Updike as a bit of a creeper in his fixation on whether or not each prizewinner would get a kiss. Fitting that I tweeted a mention to his late seventies PA Rabbit is Rich yesterday without knowing I'd be reading about Updike toward his end this evening. Read "These Precious Days" if you have time for a longer piece of writing.