Part 1 of Essay
John Updike tells good stories in his new collection, "Pigeon Feathers." What's more -- or, rather, what helps to make them good -- is his conspicuous devotion to the perilous marksmanship of words. All readers are bound to be grateful to him for that. He is no Pater and he is no Joyce. Clichés and banalities he knows, hav ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... he reminds us of the "curious and potent, inexplicable and irrefutable magical life language leads within itself" -- not entirely unaided, of course, by wide margins, Devonshire-cream paper, and clear type. Speaking of which, I am happy to report that his publisher felicitously chimes Mr. Updike's Pennsylvania-Dutch tones with a Linotype contribution named for Janson, a Dutchman. And paper made at Spring Grove, Pa. Over Territory and Time The stories in "Pigeon Feathers" float from Pennsylvania to England, to ....