John Updike has established himself as the great literary chronicler of the American middle class and its problems, most notably through the series of novels that featured Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom as the central character. Now, he’s taken all his observations about dysfunctional families and applied them to
Shakespeare.

His latest novel, “Gertrude and Claudius,” imagines everyday life in Elsinore Castle in the time before Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” And on April 13, the renowned poet, essayist, novelist and literary critic will read from his new book as the centerpiece of this year’s School of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Forum. The New York Times’ Richard Eder said, “The book illuminates questions about Shakespeare, about what a classic means and also the unexplored hills and forests that lie on either side of the path art pushes through them.”

--S.S.

JOHN UPDIKE: Thursday, April 13, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 17, Logan Hall, 249 S. 36th St.