John Cheever

Let me begin with an admission: I'd heard John Cheever's name (of course), but I'd never made my way to his work. In part, I think it's because - in my head, at least - I associated Cheever with Updike. Not that their writing is necessarily the same. But rather, because they were fascinated with New England in a way that, despite my having been born there, I am not. 

After finishing The Wapshot Chronicle, I imagined a line, straight from Sherwood Anderson, to Cheever, to Updike, and beyond (to authors like Jerry Gabriel). And I know, Anderson did not write about New England, but his approach was similar to Cheever's, I think, in its focus on rural communities and the sometimes extraordinary lives of their inhabitants.

I will say: The Wapshot Chronicle grew on me. The final section - which charts the travails of the two boys, Moses and Coverly - picks up serious steam, and concludes with a meaningful (if somewhat predictable) gathering of the clan in St. Botolphs. It's like Cheever is saying: cue that old New England flag. 


For me, though, there was one line that saved it all: and that's Cheever's characterization of Leander. The old man, he writes, approached life in a way that was as "hearty and fleeting as laughter." Now that's well done.