Rate this book

Collected Stories And Other Writings (2000)

by John Cheever(Favorite Author)

4.36 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1598530348 (ISBN13: 9781598530346)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Library of America

review 1: It was interesting to tackle this book directly after reading Bailey's biography. Bailey's book spent a lot of time pointing out the "hidden" messages in Cheever's work about homosexuality and bisexuality and the pain of trying to negotiate one's sexuality in a climate of repression and violence. While that case can certainly be made, I personally read these stories as, generally, snapshots of mid-20th century, American, white, upper-middle class, New England life. It's like reading a recipe or manners book from the 1920s. If you like that, you'll like collections like these. If you find that reductive or dull, then you'll hate collections like these.
review 2: Cheever, John. COLLECTED STORIES AND OTHER WRITINGS. (2009). *****. Timed to come out at about th... moree same time as the biography written by the editor of this volume, Blake Bailey, this is a comprehensive collection by the Library of America. It also has a companion volume that collects Cheever’s novels that you will be seeing on these pages someday soon. In addition to the stories that have been previously collected in “The Stories of John Cheever,” (1978), which I have in my collection, this volume also reprints some of Cheever’s works not in the earlier volume. Cheever was an amazing master of the short story, and depicted the lives of his characters set in suburban New York that reflected the mores of the time and the inner conflicts that they endured to conform to them. I enjoyed re-reading some of my favorites, including, “The Enormous Radio,” “Goodbye, My Brother,” “Torch Song,” “The Five-Forty-Eight,” and “The Swimmer.” These are stories that once you read them you will never forget them, but you will re-read them and discover new things each time. I can only highly recommend this collection to Cheever fans and, especially, to those who are not familiar with his works. less

Download links for: Collected Stories and Other Writings

Advertising