Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever ISBN: 0-375-72442-7 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 16 May, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.72 (43 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: the American short story defined
Comment: John Cheever was the best American writer. No, I'm not just talking about of his era; I mean ever. It's true. Sure, glancing over his novels, you might find yourself checking ahead occasionally, enjoying yourself, caught up in the vivid lives of his creations, then going back and marvelling over the absolute perfection of his language, of the narrative structure, of every single itty bitty word chalk outlined around these actual lives. Then there are his shorter works.
In this book failure exists only to the characters of the stories. John Cheever was and still remains the quintessential American short story writer (and no matter what trends pervert society in unimaginably futuristic ways, pompous or well-read people will still try to copy his style). This book, in my aloof and often condescending opinion, is the second finest collection of short fiction I have ever read (behind the still thriving William Trevor's endless Collected Stories which is only superior because its nearly twice the length). I am an American and American lives, American incidents, American dreams and failures are what finally interest me because I know no other way. This is not a book of fiction but a cleanly scrubbed window into reality of place and time and day to day to day to day of people like you, people like me, people like that jerk across the street and that unattainable sweetheart down the lane. Here is America without the slam bam rhythm of our exaggerated selves. Here is America unable to fall asleep from rumination of its uncertainties and shame.
Don't say I didn't warn you--
Rating: 5
Summary: Near perfect account of a lost way of American life
Comment: The narrow slice of America and the privileged Americans about whom Cheever writes are mostly long-gone--gone with the second World War, with the ubiquitous wearing of hats by men, with prettiness and ladylike ways the only surface requirements for women, with drinking accompanied by secrecy and shame, with country clubs as the center of social lives. Yet the stories resonate still because they are so gorgeously crafted that they rise above the details which might otherwise date them. "Goodbye My Brother" stands, to my mind, as one of the finest examples of the American short story ever written. In its pages you will find family, jealousy, adultery, childhood grievances spilling over into late adulthood arguments, drinking, ignorance of great privilege, bad behavior, card games, beach houses, and patrician resolve to ignore all indiscretion. Though you will find the same elements in many other Cheever stories, his brilliance is in his ability to hew different stories by the dozen out of essentially the same basic ingredients. Despite their similarities, his stories each stand on their own, little wonders of detail. Each story is a different shake of the same kaleidoscope. This collection is marvelous, and provides long-term satisfaction and wonderment at Cheever's talent.
Rating: 4
Summary: Stories of family and friends
Comment: Stories of family and friends that incorporate life's normal occurrences and provide a feeling that we all experience the same things.
 |
Title: Where I'm Calling From : Selected Stories by Raymond Carver ISBN: 0679722319 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 18 June, 1989 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson ISBN: 0449213579 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 12 October, 1986 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor ISBN: 0374515360 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1971 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter ISBN: 0156188767 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 1979 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever ISBN: 0060528877 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
