John Cheever：Collected Stories and Other Writings (Library of America, No. 188)

JohnCheever'sstoriesrankamongthefinestachievementsof20th-centuryshortfiction.Ensnaredbythetrappingsofaffluence,adriftintheemptinessofAmericanprosperity,hischaractersfindthemselvesinthemidstofdramasthat,howevercomic,poseprofoundquestionsaboutconformityandclass,pleasureandpropriety,andtheconductandmeaningofanindividuallife.Atthesametime,thestoriesrevealtheirauthortobeamasterwhoseproseisatoncepreciseandsensuous,inwhichashrewdeyeforsocialdetailispairedwithalyricsensitivitytotheworldatlarge.TheconstantsthatIlookfor,hewroteintheprefacetoTheStoriesofJohnCheever,arealoveoflightandadeterminationtotracesomemoralchainofbeing.Bythelate1940sCheeverhadcomeintohisownasawriter,achievingabreakthroughin1947withtheKafkaesquetale"TheEnormousRadio."Itwassoonfollowedbyworksofstartlingfluencyandpower,suchastheunsettlingTorchSong,withitssuggestionofmenaceandtheuncanny,aswellasthesearing,beautifultreatmentoffraternalconflict,"Goodbye,MyBrother."Finally,whenCheeverandhisfamilymovedtoWestchesterCountyinthe1950s,hebeganwritingaboutthedisappointmentsofpostwarsuburbiainsuchdefinitiveclassicsas"TheSorrowsofGin,""TheFive-Forty-Eight,""TheCountryHusband,"and"TheSwimmer."Thisvolume,publishedtocoincidewithBlakeBailey'sgroundbreakingbiography,isthelargestcollectionofCheever'sstorieseverpublished,andcelebrateshisindelibleachievementbygatheringthecompleteStoriesofJohnCheever(1978),aswellassevenstoriesfromTheWaySomePeopleLiveandsevenadditionalstoriesfirstpublishedinperiodicalsbetween1930and1953.Alsoincludedareseveralshortessaysonwritersandwriting,includingapreviouslyunpublishedspeechonSaulBellow.