John Cheever

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/26/14 at 9:02pm

Such an incredible writer and yet no one talks about him any more. Rarely taught in universities and the once-ubiquitous COLLECTED STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER now only sells about 5,000 copies a year while his full-length books struggle to remain in print.

What do you think happened to the man they called "the American Chekhov"?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 8/26/14 at 9:23pm

You would think that Matthew Weiner himself calls Cheever the biggest influence on Mad Men would help in that department a bit but as it turns out, that show doesn't get the viewership at Game of Thrones ratings numbers to spike any related influences.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/27/14 at 12:30pm

"now only sells about 5,000 copies a year"

That's a HUGE number nowzadays.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/27/14 at 3:01pm

And that 5,000 probably doesn't include ebook sales.

But no one reads anymore anyway, except women (who read 50 shades of porn) and teenagers.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 8/27/14 at 6:37pm

^ I know you were generalizing, but on my commute today, looking around the carriage ,I saw all sorts of people on kindles and a good number of real books too. The hot twenty-something guy beside me was reading a hardcopy "Northanger Abbey" and the less-hot one beside him was reading a Lionel Shriver.

Yeah... John Cheever, I must get around to him someday.

[Jon]

Posted: 8/27/14 at 11:19pm

Wasn't George Costanza's almost-father-in-law his lover?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/27/14 at 11:23pm

Yes. Life imitating art.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/28/14 at 11:21am

Rarely taught in universities

That has not been my experience.

When I was a graduate student in an MFA program, Cheever was prominently taught in several classes I took (theory of fiction, writing workshop, etc). This was only ~10 years ago. As a university professor now, I regularly teach a course on American short stories and always feature a few Cheever stories. I particularly like teaching "Goodbye, My Brother" and "The Country Husband".

Many writers I know also list Cheever as a major influence.