John Cheever was one of the foremost chroniclers of post-war America, a peerless writer who on his death in 1982 left not only some of the best short stories of the twentieth century and a number of highly acclaimed novels, but also a private journal that runs to an astonishing four million words. Cheever's was a soul in conflictm who hid his troubles - alcoholism, secret bisexuality - behind the screen of genial life in suburbia, but as John Updike came to remark: `Only he saw in its cocktail parties and swimming pools ...
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John Cheever was one of the foremost chroniclers of post-war America, a peerless writer who on his death in 1982 left not only some of the best short stories of the twentieth century and a number of highly acclaimed novels, but also a private journal that runs to an astonishing four million words. Cheever's was a soul in conflictm who hid his troubles - alcoholism, secret bisexuality - behind the screen of genial life in suburbia, but as John Updike came to remark: `Only he saw in its cocktail parties and swimming pools the shimmer of dissolving dreams . . .' Blake Bailey, writing with unprecedented access to the journal and other sources, has brought characteristic eloquence and sensitivity to his interpretation of Cheever's life and work. This is a luminous biography that reveals - behind the disguises with which he faced the world - a troubled but strangely lovable man, and a writer of timeless fiction. `Stunningly detailed . . . Even more eloquent and resourceful than Bailey's celebrated biography of Richard Yates, A Tragic Honesty . . . Bailey's interweaving of Cheever's fiction with his experience is a tour de force' New York Times Book Review
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Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $1.92, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Vintage.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Vintage.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $2.19, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $2.19, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
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Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $2.31, fair condition, Sold by Orion Tech rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Arlington, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Knopf.
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Add this copy of Cheever: a Life to cart. $2.61, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Snob, flirt, bad writer, literary giant, itinerant father, impotent husband, a drunk, mendacious, ambitious, competitive, 'catty', devious. bi-sexual, treacherous, boastful, jealous, cruel... all these descriptions can be used to portray John Cheever (or 'Cheevah') as he sometimes pronounced his name. With this leading character, there is no way this well-researched book could be anything but immensely interesting and absorbing. Blake Bailey has gone to those who knew and had dealings with Cheever, giving a close-up picture of this man in sexual torment all his life, with intense sexual needs right up to the time he was dying of cancer. There is the feeling here that nothing has been left unresearched.
Married to an unforgiving and contemptuous wife, with 3 children he disregarded a lot of the time, Cheever was wracked by envy and jealousy when it came to his literary peers. He was often scathing about John Updike (who kept a sweet, silent mien himself), full of admiration and envy of Saul Bellow with an eye on the prizes that both scooped up over the years. His uncomfortable and at times depleting relationship with those at The New Yorker seemed to cause fear that he was just a short story writer, but with The Wapshott Chronicles, Bullitt Park and The Falconer, his star rose and the awards began to come in.
This is a gripping account of man's struggle to overcome his weaknesses, and yet finally to accept himself for what he is - a human being with noble aspirations but human failings. There is the feeling that John Cheever gave life a helluva shot. Great read.
