# John Updike - Outage ---WTF is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-updike-outage-wtf-is-this/435952 "2008-02-02T03:43:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-updike-outage-wtf-is-this/435952/1 "2008-02-02T03:43:57Z")
Is this short story serious or is it supposed to be a parody of the plotless epiphany story? Would this even have gotten published if it did not have the name John Updike attached? It just seems so lazy - a mere exercise in craft with nothing to say. > **[Outage](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/01/07/outage)** > > Reporting, Profiles, daily news, cultural coverage, podcasts, videos, and cartoons from The New Yorker. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-updike-outage-wtf-is-this/435952/2 "2008-02-03T00:03:51Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-updike-outage-wtf-is-this/435952/3 "2008-02-04T00:47:29Z")
Yeah, that story is pretty ???. It’s clearly supposed to be about the liminality of an electrical outage, but it doesn’t seem to have much to say. For a story where the focal point was the gratuitous “twist”, the nature of that gotcha couldn’t have been more obviously-coming.