Comments on: The Facts About John Cheever

By: Travis Kurowski

Travis Kurowski — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:58:48 +0000

Great article. Really nails (1) the importance of distinguishing fictional representation from factual ones, from the life and the work, and so forth, and (2) that there is a lot to be learned and enjoyed in Cheever’s work–in and out of CW classes.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:39:27 +0000

YES!!! and Cheever IS still taught in school. Just last year we read “The Swimmer” during my sophomore year at a rural community college in Arizona.

By: D. T. Smith

D. T. Smith — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:17:50 +0000

Just to be clear, Mr. Clarke, post #2 comes from D. Smith, not to be confused with D.T. Smith. Now where’s my gin?

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:24:26 +0000

Thanks for this essay! If it is in fact true that Cheever’s fallen off undergrad reading lists, it’s without reason. I frequently teach a Cheever story or two to college students who are demographically a million miles from Cheever’s “world” — working class kids of recent immigrants, in large part — and his stories are always a hit. The mini-story “Reunion,” in particular, is always a favorite: “very relatable,” as my students would say. But like all great writers, he is great because he hits that perfect human note, the one that transcends era or location or class, the one that resonates with every thinking person who has what people more religious than me like to call a “soul.”

By: jeffrey hannan

jeffrey hannan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:00:46 +0000

Bravo Brock Clarke. Exquisitely stated.
I side with Marco Kaye, above, in that reading Bailey’s biography has only deepened my affections for Cheever the writer. For me at least there is and always has to be some separation between the artist and his life. And while Bailey’s book is an occasionally reeking attempt to aggrandize the biographer’s capabilities at the expense of his subject, the story of Cheever’s life, as told by Bailey, is stunning. What an obstinate, painful, heartbreaking life. And what masterful fiction that came out of it.

By: Tom Healy

Tom Healy — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:18:05 +0000

The great thing about reading such a brilliant piece on a Saturday morning is that I can spend all of Saturday afternoon reading Cheever, which I haven’t done in too long. Thanks.

By: Sarah Sarai

Sarah Sarai — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:31:59 +0000

Brock Clarke, you are funny and well-opinionated. I declare you discovered by me. Cheever: if I taught I’d teach him. Oh, what a love of mine he was. Must reread.

By: Evelyn Walsh

Evelyn Walsh — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:15:42 +0000

What I got from Bailey’s book was a sense of awe that a man who suffered so much– and was the cause of suffering for others– persevered in making such beautiful art. That was profoundly moving.

By: Marco Kaye

Marco Kaye — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:32:07 +0000

It seems illogical not to read Bailey’s biography because of your distaste magazine pieces that have commented on it. Of course, it’s logical to read the stories first. But I side more with Geoff Dyer who wrote in a New York Times Book Review, “I seem to have developed a fondness for approaching great writers via the road less traveled. I read John Cheever’s “Journals” before his stories and novels…”

I am reading Bailey’s biography now. The only Cheever story I’ve read is “The Swimmer” and yet the book is doing the opposite of what you’ve suggested. I can’t wait to read “The Stories of John Cheever.” I can’t wait to read “Falconer.” Will I be tainted because I read Bailey? I’m not sure. I’ll still read and respect the stories for what they are. But chances are I’ll think a little bit more about the man who wrote them.

And I did the same thing with Tracy Daugherty’s (more engaging, not to say less insightful) biography of Donald Barthelme, “Hiding Man.”

By: tao

tao — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:34:52 +0000

i enjoyed that, thank you