subject: The Work of John Cheever [print this page] One of the foremost American writers, especially among the New England writers, John Cheever is often referred to as the Chekhov of the suburbs for his powerful, character-based fiction, largely revolving around the Upper East Side of New York and Manhattan as well as the Westchester suburbs. His stories often revolve around well-off men and women who drink at the poker table and have affairs. Cheever was born into a prosperous Massachusetts family with an alcoholic father who eventually squandered all their cash, forcing his mother to open a gift shop in Quincy, MA, which was considered an abysmal humiliation for the family. Cheever attended school and won various writing contests eventually writing full time, editing and writing for the WPA Guide to New York City. Cheever enlisted in the Army and published a collection of stories which later in life he came to revile, trying to destroy every copy he found. The book is said to have saved his life, though, as his Army officer read the book and transferred Cheever out of the dangerous infantry company he was in to the old Paramount studio in Queens. His old infantry went on to be one of the companies to raid Normandy Beach, where many of them lost their lives. He was given an advance to write a novel in 1946 and for five years he would dress in his only suit, and take the elevator in his New York apartment building down to the maids room in the basement, where he would strip down to his boxers and write. Cheever would later get a Guggenheim Fellowship which allowed him to write more and worry less about money, taking car of his family or fixing his car body kit. Cheever would appear on the cover of Time magazine in 1964, solidifying his importance as a major American writer. A film adaptation of Cheevers story, The Swimmer was made in 1966 starring Burt Lancaster. Cheever was frequently a guest on the set to make sure the film was faithful to his story. Cheever, like his father, was an alcoholic, and in 1966 he suffered a major blow when his psychiatrist called him a neurotic man, narcissistic, egocentricand friendless. After negative reviews of his novel Bullet Park, his alcoholism and depression deepened. He suffered a pulmonary edema in 1973 and almost died, he spent a month in the hospital and returned home vowing to never touch a drink again, but that did not last long. In 1977, at the height of Cheevers alcoholism, suicidal thoughts and depression, he appeared on the cover of Newsweek, which praised his novel Falconer as one of his best works and one of the great American novels of the time. Cheever died in 1982 from cancer which had spread to his femur, pelvis and bladder. His children Susan and Benjamin became writers as well, publishing their own memoirs about their father.
