John Updike’s numerous stories about his fictional alter ego Henry Bech are my favorites among Updike’s body of work. When Bech wins the Nobel Prize for Literature in the story “Bech and the Bounty of Sweden,” Updike posits the headline reporting the news in the New York Daily News: “BECH? WHODAT???” (The thought was at the same time self-deprecating and self-aggrandizing. Updike was one of the most prominent among those who deserved the Nobel Prize for Literature in the past 25 years while failing to receive it.)
Updike’s fictional Daily News headline comes to mind in connection with the left-wing media figures who were stumped by the bearded gentleman standing with his twin brother behind Rick Perry during Perry’s announcement of his presidential candidacy today. Sean Davis captures the mystification of several of them in this post. Don’t miss it!
Davis’s post is excellent, but to round out the picture it must be supplemented by the tweet of PBS NewsHourWashington Week maven Gwen Ifill (below, posted here with C-SPAN screenshot). MARCUS LUTTRELL? WHODAT??? Pathetic!
who are those identically dressed bearded dudes? https://t.co/NYSZRbvLGX
— gwen ifill (@gwenifill) June 4, 2015
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