Rating: 
Summary: Yes!
Review: John Cheever is the greatest short story writer of the mid-20th century. There is no other collection of short stories that is more worthwhile to read. They are elegant, concise and intelligent. Their beauty is unlimited. I am able to read them over and over and find something of value in each repeated reading.
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Summary: the American short story defined
Review: John Cheever was the best American writer. No, I'm not just talking about of his era; I mean ever. It's true. Sure, glancing over his novels, you might find yourself checking ahead occasionally, enjoying yourself, caught up in the vivid lives of his creations, then going back and marvelling over the absolute perfection of his language, of the narrative structure, of every single itty bitty word chalk outlined around these actual lives. Then there are his shorter works.In this book failure exists only to the characters of the stories. John Cheever was and still remains the quintessential American short story writer (and no matter what trends pervert society in unimaginably futuristic ways, pompous or well-read people will still try to copy his style). This book, in my aloof and often condescending opinion, is the second finest collection of short fiction I have ever read (behind the still thriving William Trevor's endless Collected Stories which is only superior because its nearly twice the length). I am an American and American lives, American incidents, American dreams and failures are what finally interest me because I know no other way. This is not a book of fiction but a cleanly scrubbed window into reality of place and time and day to day to day to day of people like you, people like me, people like that jerk across the street and that unattainable sweetheart down the lane. Here is America without the slam bam rhythm of our exaggerated selves. Here is America unable to fall asleep from rumination of its uncertainties and shame. Don't say I didn't warn you--
Rating:
Summary: Among the best of short fiction
Review: John Cheever's stories are among the best of American short fiction. This volume contains most of the stories Cheever ever wrote, and the number of excellent ones is really amazing. The best stories are all set in New York City and its suburbs, whereas some stories set in Italy are much less convincing. The stories are highlighting many aspects of American life, especially working-class and middle-class life. As a German reader who has spent some years of his life in the US, I am really impressed how well the "typical Americans" come to life in this book. Although the stories have mostly quite pessimistic endings and may not seem quite encouraging, there is nevertheless an all-pervading sense of humour and soft irony in them. At least 60% of these stories are true great fun to read, but they won't leave you all content, but something remains in the mind that keeps working. Most of the stories require the reader to dream up by himself what has really happened, so you as a reader become part of the fun and creative act of writing. A MUST read for anyone with the slightest interest in the US and American literature.
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Summary: The Best Short Story Writer of Post-War America
Review: John Cheever's work may not appeal to all; those of us who are not WASP's, from New England, or do not live in suburbs might feel these stories are about the trivialities of elites, but the truth is far different. Cheever's work is deceptive; all is quiet, forbearing, with little violence or deprivation, a typical New Yorker story. Except, of course, Cheever invented the form, so the so-called "typical New Yorker" story is a knock-off of John Cheever's work. He is of his time and place, like Shakespeare or Sappho, so like all of us, he is limited by what he knew, lived and experienced. But enough objections. This collection of short stories can only be compared to great ouevres in world civilization; a lifetime's work, an exploration of a life, a comphrensive vision of human life from a distinct perspective. Mozart's concerti, Beethoven's Symphonies, O'Keefe's paintings are akin to this book, this mass-market goldmine. John Clellon Holmes said of Cheever's work that he was working through his own psychoanalysis on the page. I certainly agree with that. From reading Cheever's letters and journals, one can see that he left little to himself. He was tortured by bisexuality, adultery, alcholism, feeling unloved by his parents, feeling himself socially and financially inferior to the braying socialities around him and his stories explore these conflicts with unflinching bravery. Those who refuse to see past the social milieu are denying themselves the company of one America's greatest artists. I, too had to get over his settings, but then too, it took me a while to connect with Faulkner who's work is locked with a time and location that is never derided, unlike Cheever's. I assert there is no difference. Cheever's collected stories are also a great place to understand writing. He is a master of understatement, of terse scenes, of inner horror, of the shabbiness of most people's moral lives. Does he have nothing to say to us now? No. John Cheever was our last great writer, or the last great writer of the 20th century.
This great book is part of American culture no less than the NFL
Rating:
Summary: The best of Shady Hill and Bullet Park.
Review: John Cheever, though also a novelist, is best known for his many short stories depicting American suburbia in the 1950s and 1960s. This book contains the best of those stories, many of them set in the fictional neighborhoods of Shady Hill and Bullet Park. He takes ordinary events such as the purchase of a new radio or a son's meeting his father for dinner, and injects them with humor, wisdom, and even tragedy. Many of the stories are set in Italy, where Cheever lived for several years, thus proviidng an interesting contrast to the suburban American way of life. Anyone who likes reading short stories should own a copy of this book
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Summary: Required reading for any self-respecting young writer
Review: Like Hemingway and Carver, Cheever is among a handful of the most influential short-story writers America has ever produced, but unlike his peers, he is also one of the world's greatest storytellers. Do you know of another writer with a greater command and versatility with the narrative? It sometimes seems to me that virtually every writer out there is not writing stories at all, but anecdotes. Cheever wrote stories, great ones, and in the tradition of Chekhov and Maupaussant. I loved "The Country Husband," "The Swimmer," "Torch Song," "The Angel of the Bridge," "The Scarlet Moving Van," "Clancy in the Towel of Babel," and "The Five-Forty-Eight." Every single story in this book is from very good to awesome; there isn't a single stinker. If you are a young writer you must read Cheever; and not just for the sweet prose style or the distinct dialogues or the impeccable construction, but because he makes the craft of writing seems so exciting and possible and noble.
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Summary: A portrait of a generation
Review: Like most good short story writers, John Cheever has his niche in time and place. His is the world of New York middle class life in the 1940s -- as he himself puts it, "when almost everyone wore hats." It was also, it seems, a time when every man worked a nine to five office job and took the commuter train home to Shady Hill. A time when his wife, who regretted giving up her talent and ambition for the life of a lonely housewife, would either have an affair with the milkman or pass her time shopping and catching matinees in the city. A time when cocktail parties were the Friday night routine, and every other family was named Farquarson. Yes, this is Waspy America at its peak, in its heyday, and no one that I know of has captured it so crisply, so honestly, and so compassionately, as John Cheever. If F. Scott Fitzgerald captured a generation in the 1920s, the same can be said of Cheever two decades later.
Rating:
Summary: A portrait of a generation
Review: Like most good short story writers, John Cheever has his niche in time and place. His is the world of New York middle class life in the 1940s -- as he himself puts it, "when almost everyone wore hats." It was also, it seems, a time when every man worked a nine to five office job and took the commuter train home to Shady Hill. A time when his wife, who regretted giving up her talent and ambition for the life of a lonely housewife, would either have an affair with the milkman or pass her time shopping and catching matinees in the city. A time when cocktail parties were the Friday night routine, and every other family was named Farquarson. Yes, this is Waspy America at its peak, in its heyday, and no one that I know of has captured it so crisply, so honestly, and so compassionately, as John Cheever. If F. Scott Fitzgerald captured a generation in the 1920s, the same can be said of Cheever two decades later.
Rating:
Summary: One of 20th Century America's Best
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: A deeply moving collage of stories about the ironies of life
Review: Pick this book up. I promise that it will touch you in a way few or no books have before. The stories are rich, delicate, and beautiful, about creatures in a world that no longer exists. The characters are sophisticated, educated, and priveledged, but no less human than you or I. Some are stories of triumph, while others are devastating, but all are about life and the everyday irony it presents. This is the best book I have ever read. Forget Huck Finn, forget The Scarlet Letter, because The Stories of John Cheever is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of American literature thus far. All the awards it won were greatly deserved. Buy it, read it, and love it.
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