By Kelli Smith 12

Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Updike treated an SIUC audience Wednesday to a reading from his latest novel, Toward the End of Time.

Updike’s latest work is in the form of a journal written by a retired financial analyst living in the year 2020 when the world is dictated by quantum physics and uncertainty prevails.

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Suddenly I was tackling out of sequence. My identity had been usurped by an alien, who had been briefed upon just this trifling detail, Updike said as he read to the audience from Toward the End of Time.

Updike also read from a variety of his works including poems, and a short story titled The Brown Chest. About 800 people attended the presentation in the Student Center Ballrooms.

Updike also agreed to a question-and-answer session during which the enthralled audience asked questions about his beliefs about God, respect for his characters and writing routine.

It’s my habit to love being alive and to love the world, Updike said, to see it in its intricacy and its strength and beauty.

Following his presentation, the highly acclaimed novelist met with fans and signed autographs during a reception outside of the ballrooms.

Updike was born and raised in Pennsylvania and later graduated from Harvard College in 1954. With more than 40 books credited to his name, he has won such awards as the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the American Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

His novel Rabbit At Rest recently was honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as the most distinguished work of American fiction written in the last five years.

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He’s a hero in American literature, a genuine giant, said Frederick Williams, Honors Department director. We’re fortunate to live in the same time as him, and especially fortunate to hear and communicate with him. It was a blow across the intellectual landscape to improve our lives.

Updike was visiting SIUC as part of the Michael and Nancy Glassman University Honors Lecture Series. He was the sixth speaker in this annual lecture.

This year’s Glassman Lecture originally was scheduled to take place in the Student Center Auditorium, which seats 300 people, but had to be moved to Ballroom D to accompany the large crowd Updike attracted.

The exert from Toward the End of Time,’ was intriguing and brilliantly written, said Jessica Perinder, a freshman in English from Aurora.

Past lecturers for the Glassman series have included Elie Wiesel, Johnathan Miller and Jeane Kirkpatrick.