Collected Stories (Vintage Classics)
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"[they] define what a short story should be - intense, moving and resonant" --The Scotsman
Book Description
The complete collection of award-winning stories from one of the finest American writers of the last century
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
79 of 79 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ten years ago when I packed in my job in London and moved back to my mother's place, my first project was to read John Cheever's stories from start to finish. Nobody does what Cheever does - he is romantic, spiritual and funny all at once. He loved the Bible and the atmosphere of a provincial church on a Sunday morning, but he also loved sex, gin and cigarettes. The stories follow the order they were published, beginning with his early New York tales of little people "making it" - or more often not making it. The scene gradually shifts to the suburbs, in which businessmen flounder in debt and lust, although they are often saved by something as simple as a vision of light through the trees. In "The Pot of Gold", an early story, a husband waits years for the moment when he will get rich, realising after many disappointments that his riches - his pot of gold - is his marriage. From another writer such a plot might just be sentimental, but Cheever is very good at describing the degradation of poverty in a society as money-oriented as America's. Most of these stories were written for the New Yorker, and like his hero Scott Fitzgerald, Cheever quickly developed a magazine style that could handle the big themes but is never ponderous.
The stories mainly deal with ordinary men who live ordinary lives, but the solutions to their problems are often extraordinary and miraculous. My own favourite is "The Country Husband", in which Francis Weed survives a plane crash and falls in love with his babysitter on the same day. Anyone who is looking for Updike without the politics, Hemingway without the macho stuff and Fitzgerald without the glamour will love these stories. Since I first read them ten years ago in my mother's house, I have reread them countless times and they have never lost their power.
The stories mainly deal with ordinary men who live ordinary lives, but the solutions to their problems are often extraordinary and miraculous. My own favourite is "The Country Husband", in which Francis Weed survives a plane crash and falls in love with his babysitter on the same day. Anyone who is looking for Updike without the politics, Hemingway without the macho stuff and Fitzgerald without the glamour will love these stories. Since I first read them ten years ago in my mother's house, I have reread them countless times and they have never lost their power.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Cheever projects such a strong vision of a particular time and place in American history that i think it would be hard not to like these stories. They are, as individual stories, great achievements but as a collection these stories become something much more, they transport the reader into the heart of the post war American suburb, describing societies lonliest and most vunerable characters. Those for whom achieving their 'American Dream' is not an option but a necessity, it is their sheer belief that against all odds they will succeed, which keeps them going.
My personal favourites are those which describe Cheever's fictional 'Shady Hill' suburb, in particular, 'O Youth and Beauty' which tells the story of the once great sportsman Cash Bently who spends his weekends hurdling over the furniture in his neighbours houses, as a desperate attempt to win back some of his former glory.
This is a great collection, one which you will come back to time and again.
My personal favourites are those which describe Cheever's fictional 'Shady Hill' suburb, in particular, 'O Youth and Beauty' which tells the story of the once great sportsman Cash Bently who spends his weekends hurdling over the furniture in his neighbours houses, as a desperate attempt to win back some of his former glory.
This is a great collection, one which you will come back to time and again.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can only echo what other reviewers have said. These stories are unlike anything else I've ever read. I only found out about them as I am a fan of Yates and his two collections of short stories with similar themes as those Cheever explores. But Cheever's lyrical, sentimental, yet shrewdly observant, and at times Kafkaesque style puts him in a league of his own.
Other reviews will point you to which stories to focus on first. I just want to make a small suggestion. This Vintage edition is simply too thick for the paperback quality they provide. The spine creases extremely easily and, as such a massive book has to be dipped into a lot, it ends up looking quite shabby. I actually decided to splash out on the hardcover edition from LOA (which includes additional material) and haven't regretted it one bit. But this is a minor issue, and a personal preference--the bottom line is that the stories are a masterpiece of literature in English.
Other reviews will point you to which stories to focus on first. I just want to make a small suggestion. This Vintage edition is simply too thick for the paperback quality they provide. The spine creases extremely easily and, as such a massive book has to be dipped into a lot, it ends up looking quite shabby. I actually decided to splash out on the hardcover edition from LOA (which includes additional material) and haven't regretted it one bit. But this is a minor issue, and a personal preference--the bottom line is that the stories are a masterpiece of literature in English.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The greatest short story writer of his generation
Nobody does the short story like John Cheever. There's something almost magical about his work - and I don't mean in the awful, corny, 'magic realist' sense - I mean that he... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. Rupert J. B. Smith
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... Read more
Published 12 months ago by rob crawford
No Happy Endings
Reading this collection of John Cheever's short stories is like stumbling upon a 1950s black and white film or an early television series. Read more
Published 13 months ago by John Fitzpatrick
An essential collection for fiction lovers
I had read bits and pieces of Cheever, but it took me a while to get into this. Two or three of the early pieces are quite slow, too. The solution? Read more
Published 19 months ago by Golowy
The Savagery of Cheever
I had never read Cheever before and this Vintage collection begins with a tale of reunion where a large family are reunited at some decaying holiday place on the coast. Read more
Published on 3 May 2010 by J. S. Lewison
A little overrated but still much to enjoy
There is a repetitiveness in theme and tone to Cheever's work. There is also at times a bitterness that almost seems to come from the author, not the narrator. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2010 by Flibertigibbit
reliable delivery, reliable information
Delivery was well ahead suggested time, status of the book was "as new" as promised.
Published on 21 April 2009 by Luis Medina Triviño
Melt-in-the-mouth stories.
Cheever is one of the best American short story writers of the 20th century, along with Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hemingway, Richard Yates and Carver. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2007 by C. Sturgess
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