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Title: Soft Spring Night in Shillington by John Updike ISBN: 0-935716-39-4 Publisher: Lord John Press Pub. Date: June, 1986 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $50.00

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderfully crafted recollections of Updike's childhood
Comment: I first read this long short story (41 pages) in SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS:MEMOIRS published by Knopf in 1989. It is among my favorite short stories. My wish list DOES include a signed limited edition of A SOFT SPRING NIGHT IN SHILLINGTON published by Lord John Press in 1986. I've been an Updike fan since 1960 when I became hooked on THE POORHOUSE FAIR and PIGEON FEATHERS.

Even though John Hoyer Updike was born in Reading, Pa. on March 18, 1932, he lived at 117 Philadelphia Avenue in Shillington, Pa. until the age of 13. In 1936, he began attending public schools in Shillington, fictionalized as Olinger in his stories and novels. In A SOFT SPRING NIGHT IN SHILLINGTON, Updike returns to his native Shillington at age 48 (in 1980) in route to the Allentown airport with his 25 year old daughter, Elizabeth. His mother meets them at the airport but his daughter's luggage is missing; Updike and his two ladies in tow decide to see BEING THERE starring Peter Sellers at the movie theatre in Shillington, 11 miles away, while they await the return of lost luggage in front of the theatre. Since Mr. Updike has already seen the movie he spends two hours reminiscing his childhood while walking the streets of Shillington in the rain.

The reader gets to know Updike personally through his vivid recollections of Philadelphia and Lancaster streets, including Henry's (a variety store), Gerhard's Camera Shop and the "rec hall". Recollections of school include Miss Becker and Mr. Dickinson, the principal at Shillington Elementary as well as Miss Tate. Descriptions of the A&P on Holland Avenue, Clint Shilling on Franklin Street as well as Ken Kieffer's store where one bought "fastnachts", squarish holeless doughnuts drenched in powdered sugar, are all unforgettable.

According to Mr. Updike, two sensations stand out as peculiarly blissful in his childhood--the awareness of things going by like traffic on Philadelphia Avenue or the sound of an engine and tires, or a headlight beam wheeling around the papered walls of his room. The second is a deep cosmic joy of being out of the rain.

Mr. Updike's facility with language and his voice all captivate. If you read just one Updike memoir, be sure to read A SOFT SPRING NIGHT IN SHILLINGTON.