John Updike = The Ted Williams of writing

A couple weeks ago in Colorado, I was giddy with delight when I stumbled upon a hardcover copy of John Updike's "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu" in a bookshop.
"Hub Fans" is a magazine story chronicling Ted Williams's final game at Fenway Park, originally published in 1960 for The New Yorker. The fact it's been released in hardcover hints at its legendary status - it's been called the greatest magazine article in the history of sportswriting. Which is kind of crazy, because Updike wasn't a sportswriter per se. In fact, "Hub Fans" was his one and only foray into the sports genre.
I won't pretend I knew anything about Updike's career before I sat down to read this article, aside from being aware of the legendary nature of this particular piece. (Yes, I am the quintessential dumb jock.) Cliff's Notes on Updike: He's one of just three authors to win two Pulitzers for fiction. If that sort of thing impresses you. Which it should.
To suggest this post is a "review" of Updike's article would be the height of arrogance on my part. Consider it simply an appreciation.
Updike's prose flows. Nearing the climax of the story, the author casually mentions that batting, to Williams, is "his cherished task." Three simple words, and they reveal so much about the Red Sox legend. Watching through Updike's eyes as Williams (SPOILER ALERT!) hits a dramatic home run in the final at-bat of his career might be more fun than having been there in person.
In addition to the insights about Williams's career, Updike taught me something important about writing. In a passage lauding the Splendid Splinter's commitment to excellence every single time he stepped to the plate, Updike wrote the following:
"Baseball is a game of the long season, of relentless and gradual averaging-out. Irrelevance - since the reference point of most individual contests is remote and statistical - always threatens that interest, which can be maintained not by the occasional heroics that sportswriters feed upon but by players who always care; who care, that is to say, about themselves and their art. Insofar as the clutch hitter is not a sportswriter's myth, he is a vulgarity, like a writer who writes only for money."
Those are not the most thrilling sentences in the piece, but they contain the most interesting idea. To Updike, a batter who raises his concentration level in perceived "important" situations is a vulgarity. Striving for excellence in scenarios both thrilling and mundane is not just a matter of character, but the truest form of art.
This notion applies to me. If I intend to truly excel as a writer, I need to write not only for a paycheque, but because it's who I am and how I express myself. That's why it's a good idea for me to write this blog - to develop my voice as I write for recreation. It's a thought I've obviously had in the back of my mind, but Updike - who passed away in January 2009 - expressed it for me. He was a wise man.

Media blitz

Movies, books, TV . . . I love 'em all. But I hate wasting my time on sub-par media.
Lately, though, I've been fortunate enough to hit the jackpot, so I figured I'd share my good fortune with you.
MOVIES: INCEPTION
If you enjoy having your mind blown, go see Inception. Simple as that.
It's been more than a week since I watched Inception, and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. What I am sure of is, I loved it. It's two and a half hours long, but it feels like half that. It's one of thos movies where you walk out of the theatre in a daze.
The basic premise of the film is that the technology exists to infiltrate people's dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio's character is the leader of a team that does just that. That's as much as I'll reveal in terms of plot. I will say, the ending was awesome.
DiCaprio aside, the real star of this movie is writer/director Christopher Nolan. He's most famous for reviving the Batman franchise, and anyone who hasn't seen The Dark Knight at this point simply doesn't enjoy movies. Inception, for me, was most reminiscent of Memento, the flick that put Nolan on the map a decade ago. Like Memento, Inception is a complex psychological thriller. But where Memento was minimalist, Inception is sprawling, with epic action scenes set in multiple universes. If that makes any sense.
(A quick aside: I honestly haven't seen a Nolan movie I haven't enjoyed. Insomnia, with Al Pacino and Robin Williams, and The Prestige with Christopher Bale, are also worth two hours of your time).
In Inception, Nolan riffs on the sources of inspiration, the power of dreams, and the very nature of our perceived reality. Excellent movie.

BOOKS: DOWNTOWN OWL
For a guy with a blog called "The Hipster Doofus," it's inexplicable that I hadn't read a Chuck Klosterman book until last week. So when I stumbled upon Klosterman's 2008 novel "Downtown Owl" during a recent trip to the library (retro, I know), I figured I had to pick it up.
Prior to reading Downtown Owl, I was aware Klosterman was a big sports fan (he occasionally co-authors columns with ESPN.com's Bill Simmons), and had a penchant for sprinkling his writing with pop culture references. On both those counts, Downtown Owl lived up to my preconceived notions. Klosterman's writing voice is so unique, it's hard to explain. But viewing the world through his eyes is simply fascinating.
Downtown Owl, a dark comedy set in 1983, is a three-pronged story chronicling the lives of residents of a middle-of-nowhere town in North Dakota. Klosterman's tale is tightly written, and somehow witty and profound at the same time. I don't read a lot of books, but I devoured this one in less than a week; it will not be my last encounter with Klosterman.

TV: MAD MEN
My favourite TV show these days is Mad Men, the brilliant AMC series about the troubled cast of characters at an ad agency in the 1960s.
Thus, I was pretty stoked about the season premiere last Sunday evening, and I was not disappointed. The show has a different feel for the fourth season - the central characters have established a brand-new ad agency, and with that comes a fresh new set that lends the show a brighter look. The characters are likewise dymanic. Don Draper's rage is closer to the surface. Peggy is more confident - likely a product of having Don beg her to join the new agency in the Season 3 finale. And it's fascinating to watch Betty Draper and the kids adjust to their new family situation.
If you missed the Mad Men bandwagon, I own the first three seasons on DVD. Feel free to borrow them.

Moneyball: Don't wait for the movie

As something of a connoisseur of great sports writing, it's somewhat odd that I hadn't read Moneyball, Michael Lewis's 2003 bestseller, until last week. The reason for my tardiness is, I was aware it was a highly influential book on the statistical revolution in baseball. Thus, I assumed it would be largely academic, and therefore a drag to read.
How wrong I was.
Moneyball is a freaking riot. In the first line of the preface, Lewis writes, "I wrote this book because I fell in love with a story." By the end of the book, that much is clear. The general gist of the book chronicles the rise of a new stats-based wisdom in baseball, viewed through a series of fascinating characters - Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane being the most central.
Lewis's brilliance is evident throughout. A's portly left fielder Jeremy Giambi, trying to track down a fly ball, is "like a postman trying to escape a mad dog," in Lewis's parlance. "When he (Giambi) runs, he manages somehow at the same time to convey personal embarrassment." Hilarious stuff. Equally brilliant is Lewis's sarcasm directed at baseball's old boys' club - executives who flatly refuse to open their minds to the new statistical logic.
By the time I'd finished Moneyball, it had earned a place in my personal pantheon of favourite sports books, along with My Losing Season by Pat Conroy, Positively Fifth Street by James McManus, The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam, and Boys Will be Boys by Jeff Pearlman (among others).
As we speak, Moneyball is being made into a movie starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Director is Bennett Miller, who directed Hoffman in the stellar "Capote." Deadly cast. Due in 2011. Can't wait.