[.ca] The Stories of John Cheever (ISBN 0375724427)

From Amazon.com:
Think of John Cheever's fiction, and a whole world springs to mind--a world of leafy suburbs, summer houses, commuter trains, boarding schools, and inevitably, his own chosen territory, the cocktail hour among WASPs. But it's a mistake to approach Cheever as if he were merely some sort of anthropologist documenting the customs of an obscure and vanishing tribe. Nostalgia and class issues aside, his true subject is the darkness hidden beneath the surface of postwar American life. A case in point is his famous story "The Swimmer," in which an ebullient Neddy Merrill decides to swim home across the backyard pools of his neighbors. In the course of his journey, however, summer gives way to autumn, his neighbors turn against him, there are troubling intimations of disgrace and financial ruin, and he arrives to find his house both locked and empty. Though these stories deal with bright, prosperous, ostensibly happy people, a cold wind blows through them. Age, illness, financial embarrassment, sex, alcohol, death--all of these threaten his suburban Eden. (Is it himself Cheever is mocking in his ironic "The Worm in the Apple"? "Everyone in the community with wandering hands had given them both a try but they had been put off. What was the source of this constancy? Were they frightened? Were they prudish? Were they monogamous? What was at the bottom of this appearance of happiness?") Inanimate objects carry the residue of their past owners' unhappiness and cruelty ("Seaside Houses," "The Lowboy"); expatriates long for but cannot quite find their way home ("The Woman Without A Country," "Boy in Rome"); children vanish or turn out badly (too many stories to count). All of this is conveyed in prose both graceful and tender. No one is better than Cheever at describing a character's appearance: "He was a cheerful, heavy man with a round face that looked exactly like a pudding. Everyone was glad to see him, as one is glad to see, at the end of a meal, the appearance of a bland, fragrant, and nourishing dish made of fresh eggs, nutmeg, and country cream." Given his uncanny eye (and ear) for realistic description, it's easy to forget how experimental Cheever could be. His later stories pioneered authorial intrusions in the best postmodern style, and from the beginning, he wrote what would much later be called magical realism. (Think of the sinister broadcasts in "The Enormous Radio," or the phantom love interest in "The Chimera.") A literary event at its publication and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1979, The Stories of John Cheever remains a stunning and enormously influential book. --Mary Park

over-rated:
Wanting to have good national writers is a powerful motivator. I think that this has happened with John Cheever, from the retrospective praise of his work to our fascination with his bisexuality and persistent alcoholism. Indeed, his personal demons are far more interesting than his prose. While I read isolated stories in mags and liked them, reading them in a lump like this makes his weaknesses seem very plain indeed. His stories almost all revolve around a common plot: things in the suburbs don't turn out the way we want, and most often, a lot of alcohol does little to soften the blow of deteriorating reliationships, alienated children, and nothing to do in retirement. When you read 20 stories like that in a row, Cheever appears as a feeble writer indeed. This a throwaway magazing writing, not some timeless achievement that should enter the pantheon. Not recommended.

The best American short story writer:
I loved every one of John Cheever's stories and in fact, I go back every now and then to re-read them. Each story is perfectly crafted with characters that pull you in right at the beginning and plots that rise to a climax and ebb with precision. What I find compelling about these stories is that they are about everyday life in cities like New York. No weird characters in exotic locations served up by attractive, young, hip boho writers (preferred these days by "literary critics"). John Cheever's stories are about people like you and me who find themselves in the most painful, intolerable situations.

Stories of family and friends:
Stories of family and friends that incorporate life's normal occurrences and provide a feeling that we all experience the same things.

One of the all-time greats:
John Cheever is one of the greatest writers ever to come out of this or any other country. He's incredibly unsung and my suspicions are that in twenty years we'll be singing his praises the way we do Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Few stories in this collection will disappoint, my favorites being "The Enormous Radio" and "The Swimmer." Still, read them for yourself and judge. Would also recommend Jackson McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood" for another excellent read.

One of 20th Century America's Best:
Most of my students scratch their heads and mutter "Who?" when I tell them they will be reading the selected stories of John Cheever. When I tell them that Cheever is a representative of upper crusty, mid-twentieth century, cosmopolitan American cities, the sighs and groans can be heard crosstown. Then they read the stories: "Goodbye, My Brother", "The Swimmer", "The Enormous Radio"... And the discussions are as lively as any instructor could hope for. And their excitement reminds me over and again of the thrill I had reading these stories for the first time. (I'm almost jealous of my students--I miss that first time pleasure.) These are stories perfect in their craftsmanship, memorable in their characters, and decidedly superior to anything of his time, and just about anything since. Pick up this collection and enjoy. Rocco Dormarunno, College of New Rochelle