narayan's success in the united states came a little later, when michigan state university press started publishing his books. his first visit to the country was on a fellowship from the rockefeller foundation, and he lectured at various universities including michigan state university and the university of california, berkeley. around this time, john updike noticed his work and compared narayan to charles dickens. in a review of narayan's works published in "the new yorker", updike called him a writer of a vanishing breed—the writer as a citizen; one who identifies completely with his subjects and with a belief in the significance of humanity.