Bech at Bay (US Edition)In this, the final volume in John Updikes mock heroic trilogy about the Jewish American writer Henry Bech, our hero is older but scarcely wiser. Now in his seventies, he remains competitive, lecherous, and self absorbed, lost in a brave new literary world where his books are hyped by Swiss owned conglomerates, showcased in chain stores attached to espresso bars, and returned to warehouses three weeks after publication. In five chapters more startling

He is sent home from hospital to die

Reluctantly allied with the sinister Ramirez

He sees uneasy quiet reigning in the Royal Circle at Thebes

Miraculously balances humor

they determine to beat him to it and claim what is rightfully theirs

it appears events have spiralled out of her control

bearded men who are playing nine-pins

Ferdy Tuke

who is blind

authoritative and far-reaching

But the Crime Squad are forced to bring him back to the present day when a young upstart gangster

Cult fiction techno-thriller that asks the question: how real is reality