Most readers will be fascinated with Updike's attempts to represent sexuality and spirituality. Some may be irritated by the mixture of Ben's being at one level a dirty old man, perhaps even a pedophile, while also pontificating on matters usually addressed by theologians, philosophers, and anthropologists. A spirited group discussion might work from Ben's most problematic relationships to the larger issue of the modern, or even postmodern, separation of the sensuous from the spiritual and efforts to reunite these spheres of being. Is the core problem a throwback to Puritan and Victorian culture? Is Updike challenging society's notions of the compartmentalization of human sexuality from spiritual and intellectual discourse? Does he exaggerate the differences in age, class, and sexuality between Ben and his mistresses to create distance between the readers and his narratorprotagonist? If so, what purpose(s) might this serve?

1. Is the embedded narrative of...