Early success in life is a double edged sword. For although the victory in youth can seem as endless as it is sweet, if you have already lived life to its fullest, is anything less worth living? The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and the poem "Ex Basketball Player" by John Updike are examples of how too much nostalgia, whether directly experienced of vicarious, can turn a man bitter. Early success can make it easy for one to get lost later in life.
             The question posed by the authors of both works is: is a life spent coasting on past achievements really good one? In Death of a Salesman, Willie Lohman, a main character, is a failing traveling salesman, nostalgic in his own right for the reputation he used to have. His son Biff is also lost in his past. Once a star athlete, he now struggles to make a living doing odd jobs. For both these men, the present is but a pale glimmer of the past. The same is true for Flick, the subject of the poem Ex Basketball player. Flick is described as the best of the best of high school athletes. Ironically, now he pumps gas and changes tires. To anyone who saw Flick in action in his high school days, he would seem to be someone likely to succeed in life. "The ball loved Flick. I saw him rack up thirty-eight or forty (points)/ In one home game. His hands were like wild birds." (16-18) however that was the peak of Flick's life. When one is that good at something, it's easy to get caught up in all the temporary glory. One starts to believe that life will continue to be so easy. To believe victories in life will successively knock on one's door. Biff Lohman is a believer in such fallacies. As a high school athlete he once was the hero of the most important football game of the year. He played in front of hundreds of people in the Dodgers stadium. After experiencing the glory of being the savior that night, Biff became addicted to the fleeting...