WIDOWS OF EASTWICK, THE

It is always risky for a writer or filmmaker to produce a sequel to a favorite work: the second installment so seldom measures up to the first, and all too often taints its predecessor with its comparative mediocrity. But John Updike is not one to let the odds bother him -- and why should he? He is blessed with seemingly infinite inventive resources and can afford to be daring and profligate with his ideas; sometimes his wild imaginative leaps succeed and sometimes they don't, but failure has never made him any more cautious the next time around.