The Stories of John Cheever (1978)by John Cheever

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

The Stories of John Cheever (1978)

by John Cheever

Tarrytown, New York

New York: 42/105

Upstate New York: 23/23

  Finally, finally finished the last book from the Upstate New York subchapter of the 1,001 Novels: A Library of America project.  Meanwhile I already polished off the Bronx (7 books) and I'm halfway through Harlem (14).  Why did it take so long?  The Stories of John Cheever is a mother- weighing in at 693 pages, with no single story going over 15 pages.  The first thing I tried was checking out the Ebook to read on my Kindle.  That was not happening.  Next I checked the paperback out of the library.  It was a shabby, shabby edition, which is fine- it being the library but kind of seems like a hardback version would be better.  It then took me a couple months to read it, first spending six weeks in my briefcase, then a final weekend where I sat on my couch while my partner was out of town and read the last half of the book over the course of an afternoon.  Meanwhile I finished 17 more books from New York in the interim.   I started reading this book last year.   Congratulations to me.

  Cheever is the quintessential New Yorker short story writer.  I want to say that every story in this collection was first published in the New Yorker.  The chronological organization and adherence to the "New Yorker short story" template is key- the reader watches Cheever go from writing about the inner lives of Elevator operators and pre and post War Lower East Side drunkards- his early period.    A stand out from this early period is Enormous Radio- which has a surreal element that I didn't associate with Cheever before reading it.  

    

    From there Cheever starts his series of stories in Shady Hill, New York.   He essentially became synonymous with his stories critiquing the conformity of the post-war New York commuter suburb.  The fact that Cheever was posthumously revealed as a closeted member of the queer community (famously the subject of a Seinfeld episode), seems more than a little ironic considering his characterization of unhappy hetero couples.  Yeah, no shit. 

   He never really left the suburbs, though his characters go back and forth to New York City and there is also a lengthy "Italian period" which are his least interesting material- mostly sad New Yorkers set adrift by various misfortunes who find themselves struggling in Italy.   Cheever does feature a number of women characters- though they are often unflattering portrayals of domestic harridans.  As for the diversity of New York City, I don't think there is a single non-white character in any of his stories. I don't believe there is a single Jewish character.  Despite a dozen stories set in Italy, I can't recall any of the stories grappling with the issues confronting Catholic Americans, or European Catholics. 

   Mostly what Cheever is about are white, Protestant characters who drink too much and complain about their circumstances.