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John Updike. Memories of the Ford Administration. New York. Knopf. 1992. 371 pages. $23.
John Updike is one of contemporary America's truly gifted writers, having created a bevy of fictional characters (most especially Rabbit Angstrom) who are emblematic of American life in the latter half of the twentieth century. As a novelist, poet, and critical essayist, Updike has never flinched from addressing difficult philosophical and psychological issues, often delivered to his readers in mellifluous prose marked by grace and wit. Although ample supplies of good writing and wit may be found in Memories of the Ford Administration, Updike, in his attempt to create an experimental form for his novel, too often fails to create a well-wrought narrative.
Memories is set up as a long memo from Alfred Clayton, known as Alf, a historian at Wayward College, a two-year institution...