John Cheever: Complete Novels (Library of America) [Hardcover]

John Cheever (Author), Blake Bailey (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2009

Published to coincide with editor Blake Bailey’s groundbreaking new biography, here are the five novels of John Cheever, together in one volume for the first time. In these dazzling works Cheever laid bare the failings and foibles of not just the ascendant postwar elite but also the fallen Yankee aristocrats who stubbornly— and often grotesquely and hilariously—cling to their shabby gentility as the last vestige of former glory. Complete Novels gathers: the riotous family saga The Wapshot Chronicle (winner of the National Book Award) and its sequel The Wapshot Scandal (winner of the William Dean Howells Medal); the dark suburban drama Bullet Park (“a magnificent work of fiction,” John Gardner remarked in The New York Times Book Review); the prison novel Falconer, a radical departure that met with both critical and popular acclaim; and the lyrical ecological fable Oh What a Paradise It Seems. A companion volume, Collected Stories and Other Writings, is the largest edition of Cheever’s stories ever.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Blake Bailey, editor, is the author of A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates. His biography of John Cheever will be published by Knopf simultaneously with the Library of America Cheever Edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 960 pages
• Publisher: Library of America; First Edition edition (March 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598530356
• ISBN-13: 978-1598530353
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #588,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's All Here, March 24, 2009

By 

Sam Sattler (Spring, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Cheever: Complete Novels (Library of America) (Hardcover)

The Library of America series, which continues to grow at a pace of seven or eight volumes per year, devotes two of its 2009 additions to the works of John Cheever. Volume number 189 in the series, titled "John Cheever, Complete Novels," presents all five Cheever novels (although "Oh What a Paradise It Seems" would perhaps be more properly classified as a novella) in the same high quality package that fans of the series have enjoyed since its 1982 inception: lightweight, acid-free paper, sewn bindings, and boards covered in durable cloth.

John Cheever is most highly regarded as a short story writer, and writing novels is not something that he found easy. His first novel, "The Wapshot Chronicle" (1957), was almost sixteen years in the making but rewarded Cheever for his efforts by winning the National Book Award in 1958. By the time of the book's publication, Cheever was already a master short story writer and some critics of the time complained of the "episodic nature" of the novel. In "The Wapshot Chronicle," Cheever uses comic satire to introduce the Wapshots, a formerly prestigious New England family whose fortunes are in obvious decline, and creates several of the memorable characters he would use in his second novel.

"The Wapshot Scandal" (1964) continues the Wapshot saga through the eyes of its two youngest members, brothers Moses and Coverly, and through the eyes of the family's elder stateswoman, the wonderfully eccentric Cousin Honora. It takes a darker view of life than Cheever's first novel but still has some comic moments in the midst of the scandals and tragedies endured by the next Wapshot generation. As in the first novel, the segments of the book dealing with Honora are a delight, ensuring that the character will be long remembered by readers of the Wapshot books.

Cheever continued his trend toward darker and darker novels with "Bullet Park" (1969), his observation of the bleakness of life as it is lived the suburbs. The book, written in two distinct points-of-view takes a surprising turn when the Nailles family meets the aptly named Hammer family. Despite his tendency toward darker and darker novels, Cheever's regular readers could not have expected anything as disturbing as his fourth novel, "Falconer" (1977). This prison novel explores the mind of former college professor Ezekiel Farragut, a man likely to spend the remainder of his life behind bars for the crime of murdering his brother in a sudden fit of rage. "Falconer" is a frank portrayal of sex within the walls of a maximum-security prison, even to a level of detail that some might find offensive. The novel, however, was well received and became a best seller for Cheever.

The last of Cheever's novels, "Oh What a Paradise It Seems" (1982), was published shortly before Cheever died of cancer. The book, barely 100-pages long, centers on the sexual relationship between an elderly man and much younger woman. It includes subplots pertaining to Cheever's environmental concerns and the bisexuality of its main character (a characteristic of many of the characters in Cheever novels).

"John Cheever, Complete Novels," totaling a compact 933 pages, is an opportunity for readers to revisit Cheever's novels quickly, and in the order in which they were written, an experience that will offer insight into the man John Cheever was.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Library of America's handsome new editon of the Complete Novels of John Cheever displays the author's diversity and lucid prose, April 16, 2009

By 

C. M Mills "Michael Mills" (Knoxville Tennessee) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: John Cheever: Complete Novels (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Years had passed since my interest had been aroused by the prose of John Cheever (1912-1982). All of that has changed! Earlier this year I read the splendid new literary biography of Cheever by scholar Blake Bailey. Bailey has edited the two volume Cheever set in the NAL containing his five novels, short stories and other writings.
In this handsome edition the reader will find in this960 page volume all of Cheever's published novels. Those novels are:
1 & 2:The Wapshot Chronicle and The Wapshot Scandal: These two works tell us of the Wapshot family of St. Botolph's a small Massachusetts village bidding adieu to the old world as industrialization and modern living intrude. The Wapshots are an eccentric family. Captain Lemuel is based on Cheever's father. He is a tourist boat captain while his wife Sarah enjoys clubwork and taking care of the family farm. The two sons are Moses and Coverly. We learn of their leaving home for the big city; their difficult marriages and nostalgia for their sylvan home in New England. The most memorable character is Aunt Honoria Wapshot who refuses to pay her income taxes. There are incidents of homosexualty. The work is good at its evocation of the beautiful New England countryside. Cheever uses a good deal of profanity and sex is on the mind of the characters most of the time. This will turn off some readers not appreciating this kind of writing.
Bullet Park is a dark work in which Mr. Hammer is seen in conflict with his neighbor Mr. Nailles and his family. Hammer is criminally insane! The work displays violence. It is shorter than the Wapshot books. We learn about life in the New England middle class and an array of village activities. The stories of many of the Bullet Park residents is woven into the narrative. Cheever's characters love dogs, hunting, sex, drinking vast quantities of liquor, adultery and backgammon. (Not necessarily in that order!)
Falconer is the grim tale of middle aged Ezekiel Farragut who murdered his brother in a fit of rage. He is bisexual and a dope addict. The violence inside the walls of prison and the racy dialogue are well done. The book ends in a surprise. Falconer is the name of the shabby prison.
Oh What a Paradise It Seems is a minor novel dealing with a December- April romance and environmental concerns.
John Cheever is a great writer of short stories but his novels are also worthy of perusal. I had trouble with his constant shifts of scenes and persons. He is better equipped to capture a mood or a scene than write a long narrative. However, even with his faults, he is a writer of genius. Cheever's themes include the loneliness of each of us and the angst of life. He is also adept at highlighting the hypocrisies and social conventions in his slice of upper middle class WASP society. His prose is flawless and is deserving of having his reputation elevated in literary studies. These novels will keep you busy for days. An excellent volume by a great American original!